For my latest column in the current issue of Directorship, the publication of the National Association of Corporate Directors, I highlight a recent decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery that explains the truism that a derivative lawsuit is an asset of the corporation. In Park Employees’ and Retirement Board Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago v. Smith, C.A. No. 11000-VCG (Del. Ch. May 31, 2106), the court reminds corporate litigators that only if pre-suit demand is excused will the corporation’s board of directors be sidelined to allow a stockholder to proceed with a derivative suit, but all proceeds from the litigation, and the litigation itself, remain the property of the entity. A special committee of the board may also, under certain conditions, attempt to wrest control of the litigation from the stockholder or otherwise impact the course of the litigation, notwithstanding demand futility pursuant to Rule 23.1.