Regular readers of these pages may recall multiple prior blog posts on both veil-piercing and reverse veil-piercing over the last 16 years. Serious students should review the book on the topic by the renowned corporate law scholar, and a friend of this blog, Professor Stephen Bainbridge. The Delaware Court of Chancery recently recognized reverse-veil-piercing in the matter styled: Manichaean Capital, LLC v. Exela Technologies, Inc., C.A. No. 2020-0601-JRS (Del. Ch. May 25, 2021).

Much commentary has already been published about the public policy and related implications of this decision. See, e.g., Professor Bainbridge’s emphasis that the opinion in this recent Chancery ruling only endorses “outside reverse veil piercing and not insider RVP.” See also Keith Paul Bishop’s commentary on the case.  See generally samples of Professor Bainbridge’s  multiple publications on the topic as referenced in many of this blog posts. I typically do not supplement existing extensive commentary on a decision that has already been the subject of many published insights, but because this is a topic of enduring importance, I want to call to the reader’s intention some of the existing commentary.

Of note, in connection with the facts of this case, is the long list of entities involved as parties, and the court’s observance that to disregard the legal entities, it was first required to engage in conventional corporate veil-piercing, as well as reverse corporate veil-piercing by traveling the following route: reaching upwards to the parent, and then downwards to reach wholly-owned subsidiaries. The court acknowledged that the legality of reverse veil-piercing appeared to be a matter of first impression in Delaware. The ruling was in the context of denying a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), so we do not yet know the final outcome if the case goes to trial.

The court found that the pleadings sufficiently alleged fraud and injustice that might result, depending on the evidence presented at trial, from abusing the corporate form to avoid collection of a judgment.