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

California, Delaware And Nevada Differ On Committee Composition

In this prior post, I compared the differing limitations on committee authority under California and Delaware law. Today's post focuses on differences in committee composition among California, Delaware and Nevada. These are summarized in the chart...

Is "Whistle-Blow" A Bad Word?

If someone send an email stating that they hope that they might whistle-blow on you, have you been libeled? Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green thought so, reasoning that "People don't whistle-blow fun, nice things that are...

Giving A Hand To Mandamus

"Mandamus" is the first person plural present indicative active form of the Latin word meaning to command.  It is most likely the result of combining the Latin word for "hand", manus, with the Latin word "to give", do.  Some readers may be familiar...

Shares May Have Voting Rights But Not Voting Power

Section 400 of the California Corporations Code establishes the following ground rules with respect to the voting rights of shares:

Which Do You Use: Decisionmaking, Decision Making, or Decision-Making?

Recently, UCLA Law School Professor Stephen Bainbridge wrote about his allegiance to writing "decision making" as two words.  In support, he cites the Chicago Manual of Style.  I think that the Manual actually makes a distinction based on usage. When...

"Interim Final Temporary Rules", Say What?

Visitors to the Securities and Exchange Commission's website will find a pull-down menu entitled "Regulation". One of the items on that menu has the oxymoronic title of "Interim Final Temporary Rules". How can a rule be both interim (meaning...

CARULLCA Amendment Purporting To Eliminate Surprise May Do The Opposite

Readers will know that I'm no fan of California's Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (aka CARULLCA). As originally enacted, the law was rife with technical errors. As the legislature continues to tinker with the CARULLCA, it creates even...

Is Rescission Ever Legal?

Yesterday's post concerned when a corporation's rescission of the issuance of shares does not constitute a "distribution to its shareholders" as defined in Section 166 of the California Corporations Code. I noted that one of the three conditions is...

When A Share Rescission Is Not A Distribution

Section 166 of the California Corporations Code defines "distribution to its shareholders". Knowing what constitutes a distribution to shareholders is important because Chapter 5 of the General Corporation Law imposes various restrictions on such...