Case Digests

Busch v. Richardson

Publication Date: 2018-11-28
Practice Area: Corporate Entities | Deals and Transactions | Securities Litigation
Industry: Manufacturing
Court: Court of Chancery
Judge: Chancellor Bouchard
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Peter B. Andrews, Craig J. Springer, and David M. Sborz, Andrews & Springer LLC, Wilmington, DE; Jeffrey Norton and Roger A. Sachar, Newman Ferrara LLP, New York, NY; Peter Safirstein and Elizabeth S. Metcalf, Safirstein Metcalf LLP, New York, NY for plaintiff
for defendant: Blake Rohrbacher, Kevin M. Gallagher, and John M. O'Toole, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., Wilmington, DE; P. Clarkson Collins, Jr., Morris James LLP, Wilmington, DE; Garrett B. Moritz and Roger S. Stronach, Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP, Wilmington, DE for defendants.
Case Number: D68366

Derivative complaint arising from related-party transactions dismissed after board exercised business judgment to decline stockholder's litigation demand, where stockholder failed to plead that demand was made in reliance on company's inaccurate representations or that a majority of the directors were not disinterested or independent.

Wigginton v. Advance Auto Parts, Inc.

Publication Date: 2018-11-14
Practice Area: Class Actions | Securities Litigation
Industry: Automotive | Legal Services | Retail
Court: U.S. District Court of Delaware
Judge: District Judge Noreika
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Brian E. Farnan and Michael J. Farnan of Farnan LLP, Wilmington, DE; Phillip Kim of The Rosen Law Firm, P.A., New York, NY; Peter B. Andrews, Craig J. Springer and David M. Sborz of Andrews & Springer LLC, Wilmington, DE; Ira M. Press, David A. Bishop and Thomas E. Elrod of Kirby Mcinerney LLP, New York, NY; Jeffrey M. Gorris and Christopher P. Quinn of Friedlander & Gorris, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Danielle S. Myers of Robbins, Geller, Rudman & Dowd LLP, San Diego, CA; P. Bradford deLeeuw of Rosenthal, Monhait & Goddess, P.A.; Naumon A. Amjed, Darren J. Check and Ryan T. Degnan of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, Radnor, PA, attorneys for plaintiffs
for defendant: Samuel A. Nolen and Katharine L. Mowrey of Richards Layton & Finger, P.A.; Douglas P. Baumstein and Susan L. Grace of White & Case LLP, New York, NY, attorneys for defendants.
Case Number: D68351

Institutional investor with largest financial interest in putative securities fraud class action was entitled to presumption as lead plaintiff despite falling afoul of the 5-in-3 Rule due to the statutory preference for institutional investors serving as lead plaintiffs in securities class actions.

Flood v. Synutra Int'l, Inc.

Publication Date: 2018-10-24
Practice Area: Corporate Governance | Mergers and Acquisitions | Securities Litigation
Industry: Food and Beverage
Court: Delaware Supreme Court
Judge: Justice Strine
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Ryan M. Ernst, Daniel P. Murray,O'Kelly Ernst & Joyce, LLC, Wilmington, DE; Donald J. Enright, Eliza-beth K. Tripodi, Levi & Korsinsky, LLP, Washington, D.C., attorneys for plaintiff
for defendant: Matthew E. Fischer, Matthew R. Dreyfuss, Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP, Wilmington, DE; Roger A. Cooper, Rishi N. Zutshi, Vanessa C. Richardson, Hana Choi, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, New York, NY, attorneys for defendants Synutra, Jinrong Chen, Lei Lin and Yalin Wu; William M. Laf-ferty, John P. DiTomo, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, Wilmington, DE; Lawrence Portnoy, Re-becca L. Martin, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York, NY, for defendants Liang Zhang, Xiuqing Meng and Beams Power Investment Ltd.
Case Number: D68329

The business judgment rule applied, even though a controller's initial offer did not contain the required condi-tions, because he provided a second letter containing those conditions prior to any action by the special com-mittee.

KT4 Partners, LLC v. Palantir Tech., Inc.

Publication Date: 2018-09-05
Practice Area: Business Torts | Securities Litigation
Industry: Brokerage | Investments and Investment Advisory
Court: Delaware Superior Court
Judge: Judge Davis
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Bartholomew J. Dalton, Michael C. Dalton, Dalton & Associates, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Barry S. Simon, Jonathan B. Pitt and Stephen L. Wohlgemuth for plaintiffs
for defendant: Blake Rohrbacher, Kelly E. Farnan, Kevin Gallagher, Kelly L. Freund, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Kevin Orsini, Rory A. Leraris, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, NY, NY for defendant Palantir Tech., Inc.; Elena C. Norman, Lakshmi A. Muthu, Ashley A. Davoli, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, Wilmington, DE; C. Andrew Kitchen, Nicholas J. Boos, Alexandra Drury, Maynard Cooper & Gale LLP, San Francisco, CA, for defendant Disruptive Tech. Advisors, LLC.
Case Number: D68276

Plaintiffs adequately stated claims for tortious interference with a prospective economic advantage and civil conspiracy under either Delaware or California law.

Chuang v. OD Expense LLC

Publication Date: 2018-08-15
Practice Area: Contracts | Dispute Resolution | Securities Litigation
Industry: Investments and Investment Advisory
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Judge: Judge Fuentes
Attorneys: For plaintiff:
for defendant:
Case Number: D68246

Defendants unable to compel arbitration where agreement also included forum selection clause placing exclusive jurisdiction in Delaware courts, and where defendants were not party to or agents of a party to another agreement containing exclusive arbitration clause.

In re Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. Unitholder Litig.

Publication Date: 2018-05-30
Practice Area: Class Actions | Mergers and Acquisitions | Securities Litigation
Industry: Energy
Court: Court of Chancery
Judge: Vice Chancellor Glasscock
Attorneys: For plaintiff: Michael Hanrahan, Paul A. Fioravanti, Jr., Kevin H. Davenport, Samuel L. Closic, and Eric J. Juray, Prickett, Jones & Elliott, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Marc A. Topaz, Lee D. Rudy, Eric L. Zagar, Michael C. Wagner, and Grant D. Goodhart, III, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, Radnor, PA, attorneys for plaintiffs
for defendant: Rolin P. Bissel, James M. Yoch, Jr., and Benjamin M. Potts, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, Wilmington, DE; Michael C. Holmes, John C. Wander, Craig E. Zieminski, and Andrew E. Jackson, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Dallas, TX; David E. Ross and Benjamin Z. Grossberg, Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP, Wilmington, DE; M. Scott Barnard, Michelle Reed, and Lauren E. York, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Dallas, TX, attorneys for defendants.
Case Number: D68160

Unitholders' complaint challenging private issuance of securities to insiders established unfairness of transaction, but did not warrant equitable relief cancelling the transaction where partnership was not injured by transaction.

In re Fisker Auto. Holdings, Inc. Shareholder Litig., DEFAX Case No. D67631 (D.Del. Feb. 7, 2017), Robinson, U.S.D.J. (10 pages).

Publication Date: 2017-02-22
Practice Area: Securities Litigation
Industry: Automotive
Court: U.S. District Court of Delaware
Judge:
Attorneys: For plaintiff:
for defendant:
Case Number: D67631

I.A.T.S.E. Local No. One Pension Fund v. Gen. Elec. Co., DEFAX Case No. D67465 (Del.Ch. Dec. 6, 2016), Glasscock, V.C. (20 pages).

Publication Date: 2016-12-28
Practice Area: Securities Litigation
Industry: Financial Services and Banking | Electronics
Court: Delaware Court of Chancery
Judge:
Attorneys: For plaintiff:
for defendant:
Case Number: D67465