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Full-Text Articles in Law
Expanding Mfw: Delaware Law Should Offer A Business Judgment Rule Safe Harbor For All Conflicted Controller Transactions, Alex Lindsey
Expanding Mfw: Delaware Law Should Offer A Business Judgment Rule Safe Harbor For All Conflicted Controller Transactions, Alex Lindsey
Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law
While courts usually defer to a board’s business decisions under the business judgment rule, courts will apply a much less deferential standard of review due to loyalty concerns if a conflicted controller is involved in a business decision such as a merger. However, in Kahn v. M & F Worldwide (“MFW”) when a squeeze out merger was challenged by a minority stockholder, the Delaware Supreme Court reviewed the transaction under the deferential business judgment rule standard because the Court found that the structure of the transaction neutralized the controller loyalty concerns. Building on this reasoning, the Court developed a checklist …
The Problem With The “Non-Class” Class: An Urgent Call For Improved Gatekeepers In Merger Objection Litigation, Josh Molder
The Problem With The “Non-Class” Class: An Urgent Call For Improved Gatekeepers In Merger Objection Litigation, Josh Molder
Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law
Until recently, class actions dominated merger objection litigation. However, plaintiff’s lawyers have constructed a “non-class” class where an individual suit can benefit from the leverage of a certified class without ever meeting the stringent class certification requirements of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23. This new development has initiated a shift in merger objection litigation where plaintiffs are increasingly filing individual suits instead of class actions. However, this shift has left shareholders vulnerable to collusive settlements because plaintiff’s attorneys have significant control over these suits and a strong incentive to settle quickly for a substantial fee. Additionally, corporate defendants are …
Death Of A Corporation: How A Seemingly Innocuous Probate Provision Can Fundamentally Undermine The Corporate Form, Kenya Jh Smith
Death Of A Corporation: How A Seemingly Innocuous Probate Provision Can Fundamentally Undermine The Corporate Form, Kenya Jh Smith
William & Mary Business Law Review
Imagine that you are assisting the surviving shareholders and officers of a corporation in settling affairs with the estate of a deceased shareholder. In a corporate governance dispute that ensues, the estate representative uses a seemingly innocuous probate provision allowing him to “continue any business” of the deceased to petition the probate court for direct control of the corporation. You find that there is little statutory or jurisprudential guidance on coordinating that probate provision with longstanding corporate governance requirements that directors, not shareholders, directly manage corporate affairs. This Article explores the unintended consequences of allowing a misplaced but literal reading …
Is "Public Company" Still A Viable Regulatory Category?, George S. Georgiev
Is "Public Company" Still A Viable Regulatory Category?, George S. Georgiev
Faculty Articles
This Article suggests that the ubiquitous “public company” regulatory category, as currently constructed, has outlived its effectiveness in fulfilling core goals of the modern administrative state. An ever-expanding array of federal economic regulation hinges on public company status, but “public company” differs from most other regulatory categories in that it requires an affirmative opt-in by the subject entity. In practice, firms today become subject to public company regulation only if they need access to the public capital markets, which is much less of a business imperative than it once was due to the proliferation of private financing options. Paradoxically, then, …
Reframing The Dei Case, Veronica Root Martinez
Reframing The Dei Case, Veronica Root Martinez
Faculty Scholarship
Corporate firms have long expressed their support for the idea that their organizations should become more demographically diverse while creating a culture that is inclusive of all members of the firm. These firms have traditionally, however, not been successful at improving demographic diversity and true inclusion within the upper echelons of their organizations. The status quo seemed unlikely to move, but expectations for corporate firms were upended after the #MeToo Movement of 2017 and 2018, which was followed by corporate support of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement in 2020. These two social movements, while distinct in many ways, forced firms to rethink …