Delaware

Expert Analysis

• Girardi Scandal Provides Important Ethics Lessons

  

  The litigation and media maelstrom following allegations that famed plaintiffs attorney Thomas Girardi and his law firm misappropriated clients' funds provides myriad ethics and professional responsibility lessons for practitioners, especially with regard to misconduct reporting and liability insurance, says Elizabeth Tuttle Newman at Frankfurt Kurnit.

• Opinion

  No Signs Of Turning, Tide Of Insurer COVID Wins Persists

  

  The trend of COVID-19 business interruption decisions favoring insurers continues to hold strong — any commentary to the contrary is striking a narrative that is not borne out by reality, say attorneys at Dentons.

• Practical Implications Of Delaware's New Demand-Futility Test

  

  In United Food and Commercial Workers Union v. Zuckerberg, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a new universal test for assessing a board’s ability to independently assess a shareholder litigation demand, which may close off certain paths for plaintiffs who seek to plead demand futility, say Courtney Worcester and Roger Lane at Holland & Knight.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Jabil GC Talks Compliance Preparation

  

  Tried-and-true compliance lessons from recent decades can be applied to companies’ environmental, social and governance efforts, especially with regard to employee training and consistent application of policies — two factors that can create a foundation for ESG criteria to flourish, says Robert Katz at Jabil.

• Upshots Of Del. Holding On Appraisal Rights Waivers In M&A

  

  The Delaware Supreme Court's recent Manti v. Authentix holding offers key takeaways clarifying the enforceability of the dual approach of appraisal waivers and drag-along rights, to keep common stockholders in check in a merger or stock sale, while also framing the contexts in which these waivers might not be enforceable, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• Opinion

  Bankruptcy Venue Reform Bill Needs Amending

  

  The Bankruptcy Venue Reform Act, currently pending in Congress, goes too far in limiting Chapter 11 filings to jurisdictions where a debtor's principal assets or headquarters are located; we propose a more targeted solution that considers the current reality of complex corporate structures, say Kenneth Rosen and Philip Gross at Lowenstein Sandler.

• 3 Ways CLOs Can Drive ESG Efforts

  

  Chief legal officers are specially trained to see the legal industry's flaws, and they can leverage that perspective to push their companies toward effective environmental, social and governance engagement, says Mark Chandler at Stanford Law School.

• 2 Cases Will Help Shape Opioid Litigation Insurance Coverage

  

  Upcoming decisions from the Ohio and Delaware high courts in Acuity v. Masters Pharmaceutical and Rite Aid Corp. v. ACE American Insurance, respectively, on whether insurers must defend policyholders in prescription opioid litigation filed by government entities are sure to provide precedent for resolution of these coverage issues nationwide, say Courtney Horrigan and Kateri Persinger at Reed Smith.

• How Law Firms Can Rethink Offices In A Post-Pandemic World

  

  Based on their own firm's experiences, Kami Quinn and Adam Farra at Gilbert discuss strategies and unique legal industry considerations for law firms planning hybrid models of remote and in-office work in a post-COVID marketplace.

• Manufacturers Face Evolving COVID-19 Legal Challenges

  

  Product manufacturers must adopt new strategies to defend against pandemic-related legal challenges, including discovery delays in health care litigation, novel consumer protection claims, aggressive government enforcement actions and supply chain disputes, says Stephanie Laws at Maslon.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Baker Hughes CLO Talks Sustainability Team

  

  For businesses focused on addressing environmental, social and governance considerations, a legal team that can coordinate sustainability efforts across the company can help to manage risk and compliance issues, anticipate and prepare for change, and identify new opportunities, says Regina Jones at Baker Hughes.

• What Mainstreaming Of Litigation Finance Means For Industry

  

  The rush of new capital and investors into the litigation funding space is expected to bring heightened competition on price and other key deal terms, but litigants will need to be more in tune with individual financiers' proclivities, says William Weisman at Therium Capital Management.

• Shareholder Ruling Resolves Dual-Natured Claim Uncertainty

  

  The recent Delaware ruling in Brookfield v. Rosson, which eliminates the ambiguity surrounding so-called dual-natured direct and derivative claims, eases 15 years of tension around the doctrine and clears a path for corporate deal makers, say attorneys at MoFo.

• Overlooked Patent Cases: Foreign Activity Liability, Damages

  

  Patentees should be aware that a trend from recent, potentially overlooked district court cases — recovery of damages for foreign sales based on domestic patent infringement — brings with it unique challenges, like pleading requirements for exported software, and unique opportunities, like the availability of burden shifting, say attorneys at Akin Gump.

• Boeing Case Highlights Risk For Health, Life Sciences Boards

  

  The Delaware Chancery Court's recent decision to allow a derivative action against Boeing's board of directors is especially relevant to health and life sciences company directors, who should ensure that they have the right structure, processes and people to oversee mission-critical risks, say Paul Kalb and Holly Gregory at Sidley.