I have written an ethics column over the last quarter of a century for the flagship publication of the American Inns of Court. About 7 years ago I wrote about prosecutorial discretion, and the lack thereof, in connection with a California travesty of a prosecution. I thought it was useful to “dust it off”.
francis g.x. pileggi
Did Delaware Supreme Court Merge the Blasius and Unocal Standards in Recent Decision of Coster v. UIP Cos., Inc.
This blog’s favorite preeminent corporate law scholar provides learned commentary on the titular topic on his eponymous blog ProfessorBainbridge.com with citations to his prior scholarship and insights by other leading corporate law professors. They do a deep dive into the implications of Coster v. UIP Cos., Inc., Del. Supr., No. 163, 2022 (June 28…
Chancery Appoints Custodian to Assist with Dissolution of Corporation
The Court of Chancery exercised its discretion to appoint a guardian ad litem to assist the court in determining the appropriate amount to reserve as security for unknown liabilities in connection with dissolving a corporation pursuant to the optional court-supervised procedure contemplated by DGCL Sections 280 and 281(a). In the matter styled In Re Riviera …
Culture Wars Come to Delaware Courts
The title of this blog post is a paraphrase from a description in a recent article by Reuters about a case in the Delaware Court of Chancery against The Walt Disney Company, based on Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, that went to trial this past Wednesday. As of this writing, on Sunday…
Recent Chancery Decision Clarifies Basis for Judicial Dissolution of LLC
A recent decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery is noteworthy for clarifying the less-than-clear case law regarding what specific factual allegations in support of a petition for judicial dissolution of an LLC would survive a motion to dismiss. In the case styled: In re: Dissolution of T&S Hardwoods KD, LLC, C.A. No. 2023-0782-MTZ…
Our Annual Review of Key Delaware Corporate and Commercial Decisions: Praised by Prof. Bainbridge
Professor Stephen Bainbridge, a nationally-prominent corporate law professor whose voluminous scholarship is often cited in Delaware corporate law decisions, was kind enough to share our annual review of key Delaware corporate decisions via Twitter with the following high praise, while referring to a subscription-only publication called The Chancery Daily which reports on decisions from Delaware’s…
18th Annual Review of Key Delaware Corporate and Commercial Decisions
By: Francis G.X. Pileggi* and Sean M. Brennecke**
Courtesy of the Delaware Business Court Insider, which published this article in two parts (it’s 34-pages long), this is our annual review of key Delaware corporate and commercial decisions.
This year’s list focuses, with some exceptions, on the unsung heroes among the many decisions that have…
Third Circuit Upholds Refusal to Disqualify Law Firm Under Legal Ethics Rules 1.9 and 1.10
In my latest ethics column for The Bencher, the publication of the American Inns of Court, I highlighted a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit which upheld the refusal to disqualify a law firm based on legal ethics rules 1.9 and 1.10.
In sum, those rules codify the fundamental…
Supreme Court Reverses Chancery and Finds that LP Manager Reasonably Relied in Good Faith on Opinion Letter

The Delaware Supreme Court recently reversed a decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery, highlighted on these pages, that addressed whether the general partner of a limited partnership relied in good faith on the formal legal opinion of a law firm to support a going-private transaction. (Photo at right shows the Supreme Court Building in…
Supreme Court Offers New Guidance on DGCL Section 220
The Delaware Supreme Court recently provided guidance to corporate litigators regarding the nuances of DGCL Section 220, which most readers recognize as the statute that allows stockholders to demand certain corporate records if the prerequisites in the statute–and those imposed by countless court decisions–have been satisfied. In NVIDIA Corp. v. City of Westmoreland Police and …