In a recent hearing about whether a plaintiffs lawyer could have access to a company’s books and records for his shareholder client, Delaware Court of Chancery Vice Chancellor Leo E. Strine Jr. used song lyrics by Elvis Costello to explain Delaware corporate case law.
The defendant company had formed a special litigation committee to explore another shareholder’s demand for litigation in light of the company’s accounting problems. Strine referred to the state law standard (Zapata Corp. v. Maldonado, 430 A.2d 779 (Del. 1981)) when he stayed the plaintiffs’ document request until the committee issued its report.
