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

Like Elmer Gantry, Supreme Court Breathes New Life Into Revivals

The state, of course, likes to see corporations pay their taxes. When a corporation fails to do so, "the corporate powers, rights and privileges of a domestic taxpayer may be suspended, and the exercise of the corporate powers, rights, and...

Wager, Insurance, Bucketing or Swap?

In yesterday's post, I mentioned Professor Joan Heminway's recent essay on crowd funding. She notes that some crowd funding arrangements may "may look less like investment instruments commonly known as common stock or debentures, and more like...

Is Crowdfunding Subject To The UCC?

In a recently published essay, Professor Joan Heminway asks "What is a Security in the Crowdfunding Era?"  She observes:

Who's The "Company"?

In corporate groups, who employs whom may not be entirely clear. For example, an employee may have an employment agreement with a subsidiary but think of herself as being employed by the corporate parent. The identity of the employer may be...

Eureka! Bill Introduced To Homologate Finders

Questions about the use of finders have bedeviled transactional lawyers for years. The need for finders is the unintended consequence of the federal and state securities law exemptions that are conditioned on the absence of a general solicitation....

Are There Silver Hills In Other States?

In Silver Hills May Tarnish Crowdfunding, I wrote about Justice Roger J. Traynor's alternative definition of "security" under the predecessor to the Corporate Securities Law of 1968.  Silver Hills Country Club v. Sobieski, 55 Cal. 2d 811 (1961)...

Bill Would Mandate Indemnification Of LLC Agents

California's current limited liability act permits indemnification of any person (including any manager, member, officer, employee, or agent of the limited liability company) against judgments, settlements, penalties, fines, or expenses of any kind...

Supreme Court Holds California's Survival Statute Inapplicable To Delaware Corporation

Section 278 of the Delaware General Corporation in effect limits suits against dissolved corporations to a period of three years from dissolution. In contrast, Section 2010 of the California Corporations Code sets no time limitation for suing a...

When Is A Gift A Sale?

According to Black's Law Dictionary, a "gift" is a "voluntary transfer of property to another made gratuitously and without consideration". Thus, it would seem that a gift could not be a sale. The California Corporations Code, however, takes a...