California Corporate & Securities Law

In a posting on the Business Law Prof Blog, Professor Stefan J. Padfield recently highlighted a complaint filed by America First Legal Foundation with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  The complaint alleges that McDonald's...

Last year, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a tripartite test for assessing demand futility allegations in derivative actions.  United Food & Commercial Workers Union v. Zuckerberg 262 A.3d 1034 (Del. 2021).  Under this test, courts are to...

I was perplexed by Judge Cindee F. Mayfield's repeated references to "derivate claims" in a recent unpublished opinion - JBB Investment Partners v. Fair, Cal. Ct. of Appeal Case No. No. A160098 (June 9, 2022).  Was this a typographical error or was...

In January 2018, the media began reporting on  two security vulnerabilities affecting Intel Corporation's microprocessors - dubbed "Spectre" and "Meltdown".  Following these disclosures, Intel's stock price fell and its market capitalization...

I must confess that I confess that I am nonplused by a recent ruling by U.S. District Court Judge James A. Teilborg in SinglePoint Direct Solar LLC v. Curiel, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19880.  The case involved, among other things, a derivative claim...

In this post, UCLA Law School Professor Stephen Bainbridge quibbles my description of Delaware's two-step approach to the special litigation committee defense in derivative suits.  In particular, he points out that Delaware not only adds a second...

Last year, the City of Pontiac General Employees' Retirement System filed a derivative suit against the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Cisco Systems, Inc.  The gist of the complaint was that the "Defendants publicly misrepresented...

I expect that most plaintiffs in derivative actions do not expect to pay a defendant's attorneys' fees if they lose because under the "American Rule" each side pays their own attorneys' fees, regardless of who wins.  A contract may, of course,...

When allegations of corporate misfeasance surface at public companies, derivative actions are sure to follow.  Often, actions will be filed in both state and federal court.  This is what happened when "sexual misconduct" claims were made made public...