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

Delaware Corporation Adopts Gender Quota Bylaw

NantKwest, Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its principal executive offices located in San Diego, California.  Last month, NantKwest filed this Form 8-K reporting that it had amended and restated its bylaws "to implement the requirements of SB 826...

Who Signs For The LLC?

California's Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act includes two separate provisions validating notes, mortgages, evidences of indebtedness, contracts, certificates, statements, conveyances or other written instruments against any lack of...

Is The Court of Chancery Sending Cases To California?

In Sciabacucchi v. Salzberg, 2018 Del. Ch. LEXIS 578, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster ruled that a Delaware corporation’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws cannot restrict the forum in which stockholders may bring a federal claim. The...

Why The CSL's Application To The Sale Of LLC Membership Interests May Be Unknown And Unknowable At The Time Of Sale

The California Corporate Securities Law of 1968, like the federal Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934, define "security" by providing a list. Because limited liability companies did not exist when these laws were enacted, none...

Mirabile Dictu! Court Finds No Per Se Application Of Non-Compete Ban

California Business & Professions Code Section 16600 declares void "every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind". The California Supreme Court famously held that non-compete...

DBO Has Very Few Precedents

The California Administrative Procedure Act provides that an agency's decision in an adjudicative proceeding "may not be expressly relied on as precedent unless it is designated as a precedent decision by the agency". Cal. Govt. Code § 11425.60(a)....

SOS Amends Form LLC-1 To Warn Of Perjury

California Corporations Code Section 17702.07(c) provides that an individual who signs a record authorized or required to be filed under the California Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act "affirms under penalty of perjury that the...

Alternative Dispute Resolution In Nevada

Alternative dispute resolution is a popular alternative to civil litigation which is often slow and costly.  Alternative dispute resolution, however, is not new.  Homer, for example, mentions arbitration in The Iliad.  See Achilles' Shield And Judicial...

Where Is Your Corporation's Principal Executive Office (Or Offices)?

California's new board gender quota law places great weight on the location of a corporation's principal executive offices. The law applies to a publicly held foreign corporation when its principal executive offices, according to its Form 10-K, are...