The Delaware Court of Chancery recently explained under what circumstances dual claims will be allowed to proceed for both breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract in the context of the manager of an LLC allegedly using LLC assets for his personal benefit in a manner not shared by all the other LLC members.
francis pileggi
Chancery Recognizes Reverse Veil-Piercing
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Chancery Court Updates
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…
Post-Closing Price Dispute Covered by Independent Accountant Clause–Not Legal Issue of Contract Interpretation
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Other Court Decisions
A common type of business litigation case in Delaware involves post-closing purchase price adjustments, a variation of often-litigated earn-out disputes. Many agreements for the sale of a business include a provision that appoints an independent accounting firm to resolve disputes regarding a determination post-closing of working capital as of the closing date, for example, which…
Buyout challenge can’t penetrate MFW business judgment shield, new Chancellor rules
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Chancery Court Updates
This post was prepared by Frank Reynolds, who has been following Delaware corporate law, and writing about it for various legal publications, for over 30 years.
Delaware’s Court of Chancery recently threw out an attempt to undermine activist investor Carl Icahn’s claim of business judgment protection under the seminal MFW ruling for his buyout of…
Professionalism Perspectives on Court Proceedings via Zoom
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Selected Articles by Francis
My latest ethics column for The Bencher, the national publication of the American Inns of Court, is on the titular topic, available at this hyperlink.
No Such Thing as “Local Counsel” in Delaware Court of Chancery
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Selected Articles by Francis
Courtesy of the Delaware Business Court Insider, we provide our article that appeared in the April 21, 2021 edition on an important topic for Delaware litigators.
No Such Thing as Local Counsel in Delaware Court of Chancery
By: Francis G.X. Pileggi* and
Chauna A. Abner**
This is a compilation of selected key Delaware court…
Chancery Provides Guidance on Interpretation of LLC Agreement
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Chancery Court Updates
The recent Chancery decision in Pearl City Elevator, Inc. v. Gieseke, C.A. No. 2020-0419-JRS (Del. Ch. March 23, 2021), addressed the issue of whether the procedures in an LLC Agreement were correctly followed, such that a party acquired sufficient ownership interest in order to control the board.
This decision is useful for its recitation of…
Chancery Explains Claims-Splitting Policy and Criteria
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Uncategorized
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently explained the public policy involved, and the applicable criteria used by the court, to determine if “claims-splitting” should require the stay or dismissal of one lawsuit when the same parties are pursuing another lawsuit in another forum based on the same operative facts. In Goureau v. Lemonis, C.A.
Self-Sacrifice Not Required of Controlling Stockholder
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Chancery Court Updates
A recent Delaware Court of Chancery decision recited important nuances of fiduciary duty applicable to controlling or majority stockholders. In RCS Creditor Trust v. Schorsch, C.A. No. 2017-0178-SG (Del. Ch. March 18, 2021), the court explained that the fiduciary duties of a majority or controlling stockholder do not require self-sacrifice, nor do they mean…
Chancery Keeps Dissolution Case Despite Mandatory NY Forum Clause
By Francis Pileggi on
Posted in Chancery Court Updates
Delaware will retain jurisdiction over a dissolution claim notwithstanding a mandatory New York forum selection clause, according to the recent Delaware Court of Chancery opinion in Seokoh, Inc. v. Lard-PT, LLC, C.A. No. 202-0613-JRS (Del. Ch. March 30 2021). This case involved the petition for dissolution of a Delaware LLC while litigation between the…