A recent Delaware Supreme Court decision should be required reading for anyone interested in the latest iteration of Delaware law on the contract-based right to demand “books and records” in the alternative entity context. Delaware’s High Court ruled in Murfey v. WHC Ventures, LLC, Del. Supr., No 294, 2019 (July 13, 2020), that the Court of Chancery erred by interjecting into a limited partnership agreement a statutory requirement from Section 17-805 that did not appear in the parties’ agreement.

The great importance of this ruling can best be appreciated by emphasizing that the court did not opine in any manner on the statutory requirements for demanding books and records of a business entity–about which so much has been written on these pages over the last 15 years and about which I recently provided an overview of key decisions with the title for the blog post of: Demands for Corporate Documents Not for the Fainthearted.

I will add to that characterization of Delaware decisions interpreting statutory provisions for demanding corporate documents, a general observation based on the instant decision: Contract-based demands for books and records of business entities are not for the fainthearted either. A few reasons that support my observation include the following:

  • This Supreme Court decision features the en banc Justices split 3-2, along with a less-than-common reversal of a Chancery decision. So, that procedural note underscores that 6 of the best legal minds in Delaware (5 jurists on the high court and 1 in Chancery rendering opinions in this case) cannot find unanimity on this issue.
  • The original demand in this case was made on January 10, 2018. The Chancery complaint was filed in September 2018.  Through no fault of the court system, this final decision on appeal came down on July 13, 2020. About 2 years is still lightening-fast for the period from filing a complaint to a final decision by a state’s highest court, but that still implies substantial legal fees and the need for financial and other types of stamina for someone who is serious about seeking corporate records.
  • Although this decision provides authoritative guidance on this nuance of Delaware business litigation, a careful parsing of the opinion still reveals a fertile field for indeterminacy–which makes it a challenge for the lawyers toiling in this vineyard who are trying to predict the outcome of this type of contract interpretation dispute–even if one need not be concerned with applying the multitude of court decisions applying the statutory provisions for inspection rights in this context.
  • I’ll end my introductory observations on a positive note: despite the plethora of case law interpreting the various statutory provisions for demanding books and records, such as Section 220 and Section 18-305, this decision is a welcome addition to the relatively few published Delaware opinions that address the purely contract-based right to books and records of an alternative entity.

Basic Factual Background

Based on the assumption that readers of this post are familiar with the basics of Delaware law in this area, I’m only highlighting the irreducible minimum amount of facts to provide context for the key legal principles announced.

This case followed a typical pattern. The company provided some documents initially, and at the time of trial the only issue was the very limited documents the company refused to produce. Somewhat unusual was that only one specific type of document was the subject of the trial court decision and the appeal: the K-1 of the other limited partners in the limited partnership. Although the company allowed counsel for the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s valuation expert to review those K-1s, they refused to let the plaintiffs themselves review the K-1s of other limited partners–even subject to the common confidentiality agreement.

The limited partnership agreements involved allowed for a rather broad scope of documents to be demanded, including tax returns which were specifically listed as being subject to production. The company took the curious position that a K-1  (of other limited partners) was not part of the tax returns of the company–or at least not within the scope of documents they need to produce.

Primary Issue Addressed on Appeal

Whether the Court of Chancery erred by injecting into the terms of the agreement that provided for a right to books and records–additional statutory prerequisites. Short answer: yes.

High Court’s Reasoning–Key Takeaways

The majority opinion made quick work of dispensing with the defense that valuation was not a valid basis for requesting the disputed documents or that tax returns were not needed to complete a valuation. See, e.g., footnotes 65 and 66 as well as related text. More notably, the court found that the statutory notion of a “proper purpose” was not applicable to contract-based demands. See, e.g., footnote 53 and accompanying text (quoting with approval prior decisions so holding.)

Also noteworthy is the Court’s reference to dictionary definitions of words, including prepositions, at issue in this case. See footnotes 32 and 33.

The Court reviewed many prior Delaware decisions that addressed when, if ever, it would be appropriate to infer words or conditions that do not appear in the terms of an agreement, such as statutory prerequisites. Slip op. at 18-25.

A key part of the Court’s reasoning was that: because the partnership agreements involved

… do not expressly condition the limited partner’s inspection rights on satisfying a “necessary and essential” condition [a statutory concept], and given the obvious importance of tax return and partnership capital contribution information to the Partnerships’ investors, as evidenced by the agreements, we are not persuaded that such a condition should be implied.

Slip op. at 25

The majority opinion’s “rebuttal” of the dissenting opinion deserves to be read in its entirety. Slip op. 32 to 37. Two especially notable excerpts:

  • ” The words ‘necessary and essential’ do not appear in the written agreements”. Slip op. at 35.
  • “… we also do not agree that the parties to a limited partnership agreement have to expressly disclaim any conditions applied in the Section 220 context (or the Section 17-305 context….)” Footnote 85.