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 Supreme Court Defines "Collusion"

A couple of years ago, I taught Administrative Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. One of the many theories that we covered was the idea of "regulatory capture". This is a "term coined by public choice economists to indicate...

Pay Ratio Disclosure And The Sometimes Mythical Median Employee

Most, but not all, publicly traded companies are, or soon will be, drafting the disclosures required by Section 953(b) of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. That statute requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to...

Does The Sheriff Need A Permit To Sell Shares?

Last week, I wrote about a recent Court of Appeal decision allowing for the possibility that a sale of shares at a sheriff's sale could amount to conversion.  Duke v. Superior Court, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 1116. A fundamental principle underlying the...

Sale Of Shares At Sheriff's Sale May Constitute Conversion

One might expect that a sheriff's sale of stock pursuant to a writ of execution could not result in a viable claim for conversion by a judgment debtor.  A California Court of Appeal, however, has ruled that it could.

Did The Legislature Grant A License To Lie To The Cannabis Industry?

An entire division of California's Business & Professions Code is devoted to a single plant genus - Cannabis. The official name of the division is the "Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act" aka the MAUCRSA. Bus. & Prof. Code §...

Cannabizfile Comes To California

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla wants to help entrepreneurs in California by launching a new online business portal.  According to Secretary of State's press release, the new portal, coined "Cannabizfile", provides useful information about...

Move Aside EPA, The SEC Is Now Regulating Ecosystems!

I don't hear many securities lawyers talking about "ecosystems". Indeed, I think of the word as being more the province of environmental lawyers. The word itself is an amalgamation of two Greek words - οἶκος, meaning house, and σύστημα, meaning a...

Were The SEC's Pay Ratio Rule Efforts Valiant?

James D.C. Barrall recently published a listing of ten consensuses on CEO pay ratio planning.  He begins with the following:

Another Foolish Inconsistency - This Time For Broker-Dealers

Yesterday's post chided Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC for its inconsistent positions on majority rule.  Today's post tackles a foolish inconsistency in the California Codes.  Section 25217(c) of the California Corporations Code provides: