Just What Are The Duties Of A Controlling Shareholder And How Should Claims Of Breach Be Brought?

In a recent post, Professor Stephen Bainbridge discusses the question of when a controlling shareholder owes fiduciary duties to minority shareholders.  Knowing when controlling shareholder owes fiduciary duties is one thing, what those fiduciary...

Does Amending A Shareholders Agreement Require Qualification Under The California Corporate Securities Law?

A significant amount of background is required to answer the question of whether amending a shareholders agreement is subject to qualification under the California Corporate Securities Law. As an initial matter, the CSL defines the terms "sale" and...

Professor Bainbridge Queries Whether SB 313 Eviscerates Omnicare, But Does That Question Have Any Relevance To California Corporations?

Delaware practitioners and legal scholars are digesting the implications of SB 313 which adds a new Section 122(18) to the Delaware General Corporation.  According to the bill's synopsis, this new provision:

Can Shareholders Elect Corporate Officers?

The classic model of corporate governance is that the board of directors appoints and removes the principal corporate officers. This is consistent with the general principle that the business and affairs of a corporation must be managed and all...

Federal Judge Finds Exception To Exclusivity Of California Dissenters' Rights Remedy To Be "Likely" Even Though The Statute Says Otherwise

California Corporations Code Section 1312(a) provides:

What Exactly Must A Board Approve When It Approves A Merger?

Last Friday, John Jenkins wrote about another momentous ruling by Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick.  In Sjunde AP-Fonden v. Activision Blizzard, Inc., 2024 WL 863290 (Del. Ch. Feb. 29, 2024), she ruled:

Why It Is Impossible To File Articles Of Incorporation And A Statement Of Information Simultaneously And A World Without Chevron

A California corporation begins existence upon the filing of its articles of incorporation. Cal. Corp. Code § 200(c). The filing of initial articles of incorporation starts a 90 day clock on the filing of the newly hatched corporation's initial...

I Say Again That Section 2116 Says Nothing About Officers

Recently, I took note of the fact that the California Supreme Court as granted review of EpicentRx, In.c v. Superior Court,95 Cal. App. 5th 890 (2023),review granted 539 P.3d 118 (2023).   This was a case that I discussed last September in which the...

If Corporate Charters Are Contracts, Must They Be Signed By The Corporation Or Shareholders?

Recently, Professor Ann Lipton wrote that the California Supreme Court has granted review of EpicentRx, In.c v. Superior Court, 95 Cal. App. 5th 890 (2023), review granted 539 P.3d 118 (2023).   This was a case that I discussed last September in which...

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