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

The Statue And Statute Of The Three Lies

The Statue of Three Lies

What Law Governs A Foreign General Partnership?

The California Uniform Partnership Act of 1994 defines a "partnership" to mean "an association of two or more persons to carry on as coowners a business for profit formed under [Cal. Corp. Code] Section 16202, predecessor law, or comparable law of...

Is a Trustee Ever Just A Trustee?

Trusts are confusing. Fundamentally, a trust describes a relationship, not a person. Thus, the California Supreme Court has described a trust as "a fiduciary relationship with respect to property in which the person holding legal title to the...

Court May Not Employ Alan Funt Tactics To Assess Attorney-Client Privilege

California, unlike other states, has codified the attorney-client (and other evidentiary) privileges.  Cal. Evid. Code §§ 900 et seq.  In an opinion issued last week, the California Court of Appeal provided a nice summary of how a court must assess...

Revoking An Irrevocable Proxy

Until 1931, California did not permit the creation of an irrevocable proxy. With the 1931 revision of the General Corporation Law, it became possible to create an irrevocable proxy if that proxy was "coupled with an interest". Former Cal. Corp. Code...

Just How Many Errors Can Be Found In The Securities Act?

I've recently completed my editing of the annual update to Marsh & Volk's treatise, Practice Under the California Securities Laws.  One source of frustration has been to account for and explain the numerous technical errors in the securities laws....

How California Made Mergers Potentially More Difficult

The last two sentences of Section 1101 of the Corporations Code can be an unwonted surprise to some practitioners.  They are intended to ensure fair treatment of shareholders in a merger by imposing two requirements:

Court Rules Dissolution of Cooperative Corporation Is A Process, Not A Flash

I don't see that many cases involving California's Cooperative Corporation Law and so I was interested in a recent ruling by Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in English & Sons, Inc. v. Straw Hat Rests., Inc., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44803 (N.D. Cal....

Plaintiffs Continue To Search For Private Cause Of Action Under Transparency In Supply Chains Act

Last January, I wrote about one plaintiff's unsuccessful attempt to pursue claims against the maker of Fancy Feast cat food for failure to disclose the alleged use of forced labor.  Barber v. Nestlé USA, Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170608 (C.D. Cal....