Chancery Court Awards Fees in Derivative Case Involving Closely Held Corporation
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.
