California Corporate & Securities Law

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...

Many corporations pay significant amounts for directors and officers liability policies. Commonly referred to as D&O policies, these policies usually involve three sides. Directors and officers are likely to have the most interest in "Side A"...

Last year, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster famously held that officers could be subject to liability under the Caremark doctrine.  In re McDonald’s Corp., 289 A.3d 343 (Del. Ch. Jan. 26, 2023).    The Caremark doctrine originally held that directors...

Nevada famously limits directors and officers from personal liability. However, it would be an overstatement to say that Nevada is a "liability free" jurisdiction. For example, the Nevada Supreme Court recently held that directors and officers of a...

Like many questions in the law, the answer to the question of whether a member of a California nonprofit corporation may maintain a derivative action is "it depends". 

Section 800 of the California Corporations Code applies to actions brought in the name of any domestic or foreign corporation, aka derivative actions. It is similar, but not the same as, Delaware Court of Chancery Rule 23.1 and Federal Rule of Civil...

Over the years, I have commented on the fact that the California Court of Appeal has yet to apply In re Caremark International Inc., 698 A.2d 959 (Del. Ch. 1996) to the directors of a California corporation.  See Still No California Caremark? and ...

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. Zuckerberg262A.3d1034 (Del.2021).  Under this test, courts are to...