En Banc Category
CHANCERY COURT DEMONSTRATES WILLINGNESS TO APPLY CONTEXT-SPECIFIC TESTS IN ASSESSING CHALLENGES TO ADVANCE NOTICE BYLAWS
Mar. 21, 2024—Robert S. Reder & Noah Nance | 77 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 69 “It is well established,” under Delaware law, “that stockholders have a fundamental right to ‘vote for the directors that the s[tock]holder[s] want [ ] to oversee the firm.’ ” Sternlicht v. Hernandez, 2023 WL 3991642 (Del. Ch. June 14, 2023) (“Sternlicht”)....
DELAWARE SUPREME COURT EXAMINES INTERPLAY OF SCHNELL “INEQUITABLE PURPOSES” DOCTRINE AND BLASIUS “COMPELLING JUSTIFICATION” STANDARD IN ADDRESSING BOARD INTERFERENCE WITH STOCKHOLDER VOTE
Mar. 21, 2024—Robert S. Reder & Austria C. Arnold | 77 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 51 Acknowledging that “our corporate law is not static,” in Coster v. UIP Companies, Inc., No. 163, 2022 (Del. Sup. Ct. June 28, 2023) (“Cos- ter IV”), the Delaware Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”) sought to rec- oncile several standards of judicial...
Second Amendment Immigration Exceptionalism
Feb. 8, 2024—Pratheepan Gulasekaram | 77 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 51 (2024) Recently, a federal district court in United States v. Vazquez- Ramirez upheld the federal criminal prohibition on firearm possession by unlawfully present noncitizens codified in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5). Vazquez-Ramirez is just the latest in a string of post-New York State Rifle & Pistol...
MFW DEFENSE AVAILABLE DESPITE CONTROL STOCKHOLDER’S REFUSAL TO NEGOTIATE WITH CREDIBLE COMPETING BIDDER
Jan. 30, 2024—Robert S. Reder | 77 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 39 In Smart Local Unions and Councils Pension Fund v. BridgeBio Pharma, Inc., C.A. No. 2021-1030-PAF (Del. Ch. December 29, 2022) (“BridgeBio Pharma”), the Delaware Court of Chancery (“Chancery Court”) examined the negotiation and approval process underlying a control stockholder’s buyout of minority shares via...
A Different Standard for Different Stages: Why Parties Must Be Allowed to “Invoke the Rule” During Oral Depositions
Jan. 30, 2024—Morgan Scott | 77 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 1 Two attorneys from the same law firm are representing plaintiffs in two whistleblower qui tam lawsuits against different pharmaceutical companies. One suit has been going on for years and is finally at the trial stage; the other will likely settle after depositions are complete. Attorney...
TYPE I VS. TYPE II: DELAWARE COURTS DISCUSS ENFORCEABILITY OF PRELIMINARY AGREEMENTS
Oct. 22, 2023—Robert S. Reder & Evan T. Kowalski | 76 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 133 (2023) | When parties to commercial negotiations reach an agreement on certain basic transaction terms but are not yet ready to proceed to definitive documentation, they frequently will sign a preliminary agreement—usually called a letter of intent or an agreement in...
“CHALKING UP A VICTORY FOR DEAL CERTAINTY”: CHANCERY COURT REINFORCES HIGH BAR TO ESTABLISHING “MAE” IN CONNECTION WITH IMPACT OF COVID-19
Oct. 22, 2023—Robert S. Reder & Zachary R. Ryan | 76 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 119 (2023) | Market dislocations associated with the rapid spread of COVID19 beginning in early 2020 presented parties to pending M&A transactions with two thorny issues under the documentation governing their transactions: first, which party bore the risk of pandemic-related damage to...
APPLICATION OF MFW FRAMEWORK DEFEATS CHALLENGE TO CORPORATE CHARTER AMENDMENT FAVORING CONTROL STOCKHOLDER
Sep. 29, 2023—Robert S. Reder & Kathryn A. Fish | 76 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 111 (2023) | In City Pension Fund for Firefighters and Police Officers in Mi- ami v. The Trade Desk, Inc., C.A. No. 2021-0560-PAF (Del. Ch. July 29, 2022) (“The Trade Desk”), the Delaware Court of Chancery (“Chancery Court”) examined the approval...
DELAWARE SUPREME COURT REQUIRES STOCKHOLDER VOTE TO APPROVE COMPANY’S TRANSFER OF PLEDGED ASSETS TO SATISFY DEFAULTED DEBT
Sep. 28, 2023—Robert S. Reder | 76 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 101 | Stream TV Networks, Inc. (“Stream” or the “Company”), a company in difficult financial straits, found itself unable to repay its considerable debt. Repayment of this debt was secured by a pledge of all Company assets to the secured creditors. Facing default and a potential...
Committing to Agency Independence
Jul. 17, 2023—Nicholas Almendares | 76 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 1 Response to Aaron L. Nielson & Christopher J. Walker, Congress’s Anti-Removal Power, 76 VAND. L. REV 1 (2023). EXCERPT: Nielson and Walker argue persuasively that Congress flexing its anti-removal power muscles is constitutional. They point to the Senate’s clear role in appointments enshrined in Article...
Fenceposts Without a Fence
May. 31, 2023—Katherine E. Di Lucido, Nicholas K. Tabor & Jeffery Y. Zhang | 76 Vand. L. Rev. 1215 Banking organizations in the United States have long been subject to two broad categories of regulatory requirements. The first is permissive: a “positive” grant of rights and privileges, typically via a charter for a corporate entity, to engage...
Democracy and Disenchantment
May. 17, 2022—Ashraf Ahmed | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 223 (2022) | This piece is a response to Ryan D. Doerfler & Samuel Moyn, The Ghost of John Hart Ely, 75 VAND. L. REV 769 (2022). The Ghost of John Hart Ely is Doerfler and Moyn’s latest salvo against American judicial review. This time, however, their...
Hunting for Nondelegation Doctrine’s Snark
May. 17, 2022—Roderick M. Hills, Jr. | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 215 (2022) | This piece is a response to Ben Silver, Nondelegation in the States, 75 VAND. L. REV. 1211, 1221 (2022). There is much to like about Silver’s article: it is analytically sharp, doctrinally comprehensive, and written with clarity and grace. Moreover, on...
Can Better Juries Fix American Criminal Justice?
May. 17, 2022—Darryl K. Brown | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 205 (2022) | This piece is a response to Daniel Epps & William Ortman, The Informed Jury, 75 VAND. L. REV. 823 (2022). Professors Daniel Epps and William Ortman argue that it could. In their Article The Informed Jury, Epps and Ortman propose that trial...
CHANCERY COURT DECLINED TO APPLY BLASIUS “COMPELLING JUSTIFICATION” STANDARD IN SUSTAINING BOARD’S REJECTION OF OPPOSITION SLATE UNDER “COMMONPLACE” ADVANCE NOTICE BYLAW
May. 12, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Gabrielle M. Haddad | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 195 (2022) | Under § 141(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), “the business and affairs of every corporation . . . shall be managed by or under the direction of a board of directors . . . .” In light of this sweeping grant of authority to...
CHANCERY COURT PROVIDES ADDITIONAL CLARITY ON DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING CORWIN DEFENSE
May. 12, 2022—Robert S. Reder & Stanley N. Medlin | 75 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 187 (2022) | At the other end of the spectrum, as explained by Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III in Galindo v. Stover, CA No. 2021-0031-SG (Del. Ch. Jan. 26, 2022) (“Galindo”), “directors need not provide exhaustive information in seeking a stockholder...