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

This California Court Held That A Limited Partnership Is No Person

In preceding posts, I commented on the multifarious definitions of "person" in the Securities Act of 1933, the Exchange Act of 1934 and various laws within the California Corporations Code. As noted, the Corporations Code's definition of "person" is...

Multifarious Meanings of "Person"

Last Friday, I observed that the definitions of "person" found in the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act are oddly incongruous. The California Corporations Code is similarly inharmonious. Section 18 of the Code, which applies to the...

Are Limited Liability Companies "Persons"?

Limited liability companies did not exist when Congress enacted the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Therefore, it should be no surprise that as originally enacted these acts did not mention LLCs. Congress has since...

Ever Hear Of A Emphyteutic Leasehold?

I have often remarked on the debt that the Anglo-American legal lexicon owes to French and Latin.  Greek has made a much smaller contribution.  In reading Professor Peter Heather's The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians...

Professor Robert J. Jackson Jr. Nominated To Become A Member Of The Securities And Exchange Commission

As Broc Romanek noted yesterday, President Donald Trump has nominated Columbia Law School Professor Robert J. Jackson, Jr. to become a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Over the years, Professor Jackson's name has made several...

Something Appears To Be Awry With California's Insider Trading Statute

I trust that by now most quotidian readers of this blog should be familiar with Corporations Code Section 25402 which declares insider trading to be unlawful. Although the statute has been on the books since the enactment of the Corporate Securities...

Scienter In The News Again

In May, I wrote about Judge Gonzolo P. Curiel’s  decision to grant the defendants’ motion to dismiss federal and state securities law claims in Mueller v. San Diego Entm’t Partners, LLC, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77643 (S.D. Cal. May 22, 2017). I...

"Lead Independent Director" Or "Presiding Director"?

Neither California nor Nevada require that a corporation have either a "lead independent director" or "presiding director" and yet many corporations state that they have such a position.  Why?

Bylaws And Supermajority Board Voting Requirements

Yesterday's post concerned various provisions that, although not required to be included in the articles of incorporation, must be included if they are to be effective.  One of these provisions relates to supermajority voting requirements: