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

How Certain Can You Be Of A General Partner's Authority?

In this post, Professor Douglas K. Moll attacks the question of whether a partner has "actual authority, simply as a matter of his 'partner' status, to bind the partnership to an ordinary business transaction":

The High Price Of Trying To Enforce The Unenforceable

Readers of this blog will know that California marches to its own drummer when it comes to the enforceability of covenants not to compete. California Business & Professions Code Section 16600 declares these covenants void unless they fall within a...

Why State Registration Of Security-Based Swaps Is Non-Existent

The regulation of "swaps" lies at the intersection of the commodities and securities regulation. In the parlance of commodity regulation, a "swap" is a contract or transaction that provides for a payment dependent on an event or contingency...

The Principal Executive Office - It's Not Just About Venue

Last week, I wrote about the venue implications of the location (or lack of) a corporation's principal executive office. The location of a corporation's PEO isn't just about venue, however. Numerous provisions of the California General Corporation...

Why The Location Of The Principal Executive Office Matters

The California General Corporation Law does not require that a California corporation have a principal executive office located in California. In fact, Section 177 explicitly contemplates that a corporation's PEO may be located elsewhere or that the...

New California Law Threatens To Destroy Plan Uniformity

Companies often include a choice of law provision in their equity and other compensation plans. Some companies include a choice of law in the award agreement, either in lieu of, or in addition to, the plan document. Specifying applicable law helps...

Hiring & Firing Officers In California

John Jenkins at The Mentor Blog addresses the question of who has authority to hire and fire officers?  He notes:

Officers: Got Business Judgment Rule? Nevada Says Yes, Delaware Maybe Not

Francis Pileggi writes about a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Sue L. Robinson in which she refused to consider whether the business judgment rule applied to officers of a Delaware corporation:

The JOBS Act And The Convergence Of Private And Public Sales Under The UCC

Section 9610(b) of the California Commercial Code provides that if commercially reasonable, a secured party may dispose of collateral by public or private proceedings, by one or more contracts, as a unit or in parcels, and at any time and place and...