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

Court Rules Unincorporated Association Aided Director's Breach Of Fiduciary Duty

Nearly four years ago, I devoted this post about California's Unincorporated Association Law. Typically, an unincorporated association is a club, church, or other social organization. A criminal street gang might also be an unincorporated...

Court Rules Shareholders May Be Sued In De Facto Dissolution

California Corporations Code Section 2011 provides that causes of action against a dissolved corporation, whether arising before or after dissolution, may be enforced against its shareholders if any of the assets of the corporation have been...

Professor Bainbridge Takes On S.B. 75 And The Delaware Bar

UCLA Law Professor Stephen Bainbridge recently posted an article calling Delaware's recently enacted S.B. 75 a "self-inflicted wound". SB 75, which was signed into law late last month, limits the ability of Delaware stock corporations to adopt...

Why Foreign Corporations Might Not Care Where You Live

I noticed the following description of California's principal "pseudo-foreign" corporation statute in a recently filed registration statement:

Unwaivable Statutes May Doom Forum Selection Provision

Nearly four years ago, I wrote this post asking whether California's anti-waiver statute voids choice of forum agreements.  The statute in question was California Corporations Code Section 25701 which provides:

New LLC Is Not Delivered By Sale Membership Interests

Readers of this blog should be well aware of California's general antipathy to covenants not to compete.  See The Point Of An Unenforceable Noncompete May Be Very Sharp Indeed,Covenants Not To Compete – Fourth DCA Considers A New Fine Question (Or...

Court Of Appeal Holds "May" Does Not Mean "May Only"

California requires persons who are engaged in the business of making consumer loans or commercial loans to be licensed under the Finance Lenders Law, unless exempt.  Cal. Fin. Code § 22100.  The CFLL includes the following:

Another Dubious Assertion Concerning Section 2115

I have often written about numerous provisions of the California Corporations Code that expressly apply to foreign corporations meeting specified tests. The most famous, but not the only, statute of this breed is Section 2115. Although Section 2115...

Are Delaware Directors Deathless?

I've noticed that the drafters of corporate laws seemed to have overlooked the mortality of directors.  Section 141(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, for example, prescribes the term of directors as follows: