Court Orders Discovery In Derivative Action Challenging Racial Diversity

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...

Unsuccessful Derivative Plaintiff Found Personally Liable For Defendant's Attorneys' Fees

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,...

Does A Plaintiff In A Derivative Action Have A Protectable Interest?

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...

Dismissal Of State Court Derivative Action Yields Dismissal Of Parallel Federal Action

I first wrote about the preclusive effect, if any, of a dismissal of a parallel derivative action some nine years ago when I wrote about Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster's ruling in La. Mun. Police Emples. Ret. Sys. v. Pyott, 46 A.3d 313, (2012).  See

LLC's Failure To File Cross-Complaint Dooms Double Derivative Action

Although the members of a limited liability may file a derivative action, the right of action belongs to the LLC and not to the members themselves.  This fundamental principle had real consequences for the plaintiffs in Heshejin v. Rostami, 2020 Cal....

The Board and #MeToo

The following fact pattern should be familiar.  A high-profile news story runs detailing years of sexual harassment by the CEO of a company. Four women sued, claiming that the CEO repeatedly propositioned or groped female employees, and rewarded or...

Plaintiffs File Amended Complaint Against Yahoo! But Is Something Missing?

Last spring, a derivative suit was filed in California Superior Court against certain of current and former directors and officers of Yahoo!, Inc. alleging breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the company's widely reported data breach. The...

Delaware Supreme Court Defines "Collusion"

A couple of years ago, I taught Administrative Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. One of the many theories that we covered was the idea of "regulatory capture". This is a "term coined by public choice economists to indicate...

Delaware Special Litigation Committee Review "Could Stand A Good Tweaking"

UCLA Law School Professor Stephen Bainbridge recently critiqued the Nevada Supreme Court's decision to follow Auerbach v. Bennett, 419 N.Y.S.2d 920 (1979) rather than Delaware's Zapata Corp. v. Maldonado, 430 A.2d 779 (Del. 1981).  He concludes:

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