Chancery Court Awards Fees in Derivative Case Involving Closely Held Corporation

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Francis Pileggi

In Julian v. Eastern States Constr. Co., (Del. Ch., Jan. 14, 2009), read opinion here, the Chancery Court awarded fees to the victorious party in a derivative case involving a corporation that only had a few shareholders. The claims in this case challenged bonuses of  the key executives .

The analysis of a fee award in this context is somewhat different than in a large, publicly-held corporation. The prior opinion in this case in which the court agreed with the plaintiff that the challenged executive compensation should be returned, was summarized here.

This is a very important decision for anyone seeking fees in a derivative case that involves a closely-held company with a very small number of shareholders.

  • http://community.martindale.com/blogs/litigation_discovery_and_disputes1/b/delawarelitigation/archive/2010/03/29/chancery-refuses-to-set-aside-valuation-performed-pursuant-to-formula-in-stockholders-a Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog

    Chancery Refuses to Set Aside Valuation Performed Pursuant to Formula in Stockholders’ Agreement

    Julian v. Julian , C.A. No. 1892-VCP (Del. Ch. March 22, 2010), read opinion here. This is the latest

  • http://community.martindale.com/Litigation_Discovery_and_Disputes/b/delawarelitigation/archive/2010/03/29/chancery-refuses-to-set-aside-valuation-performed-pursuant-to-formula-in-stockholders-agreemen Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog

    Chancery Refuses to Set Aside Valuation Performed Pursuant to Formula in Stockholders’ Agreement

    Julian v. Julian , C.A. No. 1892-VCP (Del. Ch. March 22, 2010), read opinion here. This is the latest