Keith Paul Bishop

Keith Paul Bishop

Keith Bishop works with privately-held and publicly-traded companies on federal and state corporate and securities transactions, compliance, and governance matters. He is highly-regarded for his in-depth knowledge of the distinctive corporate and regulatory requirements faced by corporations in the state of California. While many law firms have a great deal of expertise in federal or Delaware corporate law, Keith’s specific focus on California corporate and securities law is uncommon. A former California state regulator of securities and financial institutions, Keith has decades of experience navigating the regulatory-intensive state’s rules. For companies with substantial operations in California but incorporated elsewhere, Keith is an exceptional resource. He is frequently called in to help with issues arising under California’s “blue sky” and lender laws. An avid writer, Keith’s blog, www.calcorporatelaw.com, covers a diverse collection of California corporate and securities law issues and has served as a valued resource for other attorneys, business executives, judges, and media, nationwide.

Recent Posts

A Supreme Court Decision In Which Only One Justice Participated

Yesterday, the Nevada Supreme Court issued its opinion in In re Discipline of James A. Colin, 135 Nev. Adv. 43 (2019). As the name of the case suggests, the opinion involved a question of attorney discipline. Although this isn't a regular subject...

Marijuana Bank Legislation On Hold But May Take Effect Next Year

Last January, I wrote about Senator Robert Hertzberg's introduction of a bill, SB 51, that would authorize the licensing and regulation of cannabis limited charter banks and credit unions under the oversight of the Commissioner of Business...

SEC Questions Puts Cart Before The Horse

The idea of putting the cart before the horse is not new.  The Second Century C.E. writer Lucian of Samosata used the phrase in his Dialogues of the Dead ("ἡ ἅμαξα τὸν βοῦν"). Although the phrase is now a cliché, it was all that came to mind when...

Happy Constitution & Citizenship Day!

According to federal law, today is Constitution and Citizenship Day.  Congress has helpfully codified the purpose of the day as follows:

LLCs And Corporations - Another Judicial Mash-UP

Dean Joshua Fershee at Creighton University School of Law has had a habit of pointing out judicial confusion of limited liability companies and corporations.  See LLCs Still Not Corporations, Even In Class Action Settlements. Recently, I came across...

No Equal Dignity For Corporate Officers

California has codified the so-called "equal dignity" rule for agents in Civil Code Section 2309 which provides:

Removal Of Directors Without Cause

Broc Romanek at The Mentor Blog has been writing about publicly traded companies that reportedly continue charter provisions allowing shareholders to remove directors only for "cause". Section 303 of the California Corporations Code generally...

CARULLCA Transition Issues Left Unaddressed In Recent Decision

Hillsborough Dev. Co., LLC v. Annen Case No. D074818 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 9, 2019) involved a disputed removal of an LLC's manager by a majority of the members. The LLC agreement was silent on how the manager could be removed and the parties did not...

DBO Warns Of False Flag Email

Impersonating government agencies and officials is nothing new.  The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) issued this detailed warning of this practice in 2016.  Two years later, the Securities and Exchange Commission warned of calls...