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

A Jury Summons Evokes Thoughts Of Pericles, Wasps And Aristotle

Recently, I received a summons for jury service. This reminded me of Pericles, Wasps and Aristotle.

Court Finds Use Of "P" Word Does Not Necessarily A Partnership Make

Last March, I wrote a couple of posts concerning the Nevada Supreme Court's opinion in In re Cay Clubs, 130 Nev. Adv. 14 (2014).  Joint Venturer May Be Partner By Estoppel and “Don’t tell me not to worry, and please don’t call me partner”. The...

The Academy Loves Nevada Corporate Law!

The incognoscenti may not know it, but today is Nevada Day. On this date in 1864, Nevada joined the Union and helped support the reelection of Abraham Lincoln and the Thirteenth Amendment. Delaware did not - it joined New Jersey and Kentucky in...

Political Spending Disclosures - An Idea So Good That I Think You Should Pay For It

In July 2011, a group of ten law professors filed a rulemaking petition with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking adoption of a rule requiring disclosure of political spending by publicly traded companies.  In a post last month, two of the...

Who Is Adolf Berle, Jr. And Why Is Vice Chancellor Laster Quoting Him?

Adolf A. Berle, Jr. wrote Corporate Powers as Powers in Trust more than four score years ago, but Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster cited the article yesterday as if the Harvard Law Review had published it last week. Quadrant Structured Products Co.,...

The Proper Purpose Of Discovery In Derivative Suits

A plaintiff holding less than 2000 shares files a derivative suit against a corporation's current or former directors and officers. The trial court finds the complaint to be internally inconsistent and that regulatory filings disproved allegations...

Should The SEC Ask What Would Blackstone Do?

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently trumpeted its enforcement successes for its 2014 fiscal year.  For an agency dedicated to full disclosure, there were some notable omissions, including:

Adjudicate or Rule Make? That May Not Be A Question For The Courts

Professor Stephen Bainbridge yesterday passed along Henry G. Manne's criticism of the SEC's use of adjudication in lieu of rulemaking. For those who haven't taken my Administrative Law class, there are actually two types of adjudication and three...

If Bylaws Are Contracts, Where's The Boilerplate?

Bylaws hardly constitute literature. For the most part, they simply regurgitate the applicable general corporation law with a few permitted changes here and there. In general, there seems to be two schools of thought when it comes drafting bylaws....