Earlier today, in Business Roundtable v. Securities & Exchange Commission, No. 10-1305 (D.C. Cir. July 22, 2011), the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its decision invalidating the SEC’s proxy access rules adopted in August 2010 with the intention that they be effective for the 2011 proxy season (see [...]

In MLSMK Investment Co. v. JP Morgan Chase & Co., No. 10-3040-cv, 2011 WL 2640579 (2d Cir. July 7, 2011), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962 and 1964, seeking to hold defendants liable [...]

In RGH Liquidating Trust v. Deloitte & Touche, LLP, 2011 WL 2471542 (N.Y. June 23, 2011), the New York Court of Appeals held that a liquidating trust established pursuant to a bankruptcy reorganization plan was a single “person” within the meaning of the “single-entity exemption” in the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (“SLUSA”). SLUSA [...]

In Kahn et al v. Kolberg Kravis Roberts & Co., L.P., No. 1808, 2011 WL 2447690 (Del. June 20, 2011), the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by minority shareholders against corporate officers and a controlling shareholder. The Supreme Court held that plaintiffs could state a claim seeking [...]

A sound social media governance program means more than having a social media policy, or updating your document retention policy to include social media activity. It may also mean updating your Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) compliance program to ensure that your company is complying with Section 409. Section 409 of SOX requires companies to disclose material [...]

In Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivative Traders, No. 09-525, 2011 WL 2297762 (U.S. Jun. 13, 2011) (Thomas, J.), the United States Supreme Court held that purposes of a securities fraud claim under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5 , 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5, promulgated [...]

In Erica P. John Fund, Inc. v. Halliburton Co.,No. 09-1403, 2011 WL 2175208 (U.S. June 8, 2011), the United States Supreme Court held that securities fraud plaintiffs need not prove loss causation in order to invoke the presumption of investor reliance at the class certification stage. The Court’s unanimous ruling, which reversed the United States Court [...]

In Graulich v. Dell, Inc., 2011 WL 1843813 (Del. Ch. May 16, 2011), the Delaware Court of Chancery rejected a stockholder’s demand under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“Section 220”). Section 220 provides that a stockholder in a Delaware corporation may, under certain conditions, request that that corporation make available certain books and [...]

In Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC v. Roche Diagnostics GmbH, C.A. No. 5589-VCP (Del. Ch. Apr. 8, 2011), the Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss a breach of contract claim, holding that a reverse triangular merger may constitute an assignment by operation of law. In the first Delaware case to address this issue, the Court [...]

In Luther v. Countrywide Financial Corp., No. B222889, 2011 WL 1879242 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. May 18, 2011), the California Court of Appeal for the Second District reversed the dismissal of a class action asserting a claim under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 77k. The trial court had sustained [...]