• Tornetta v. Musk

    Publication Date: 2024-12-31
    Practice Area: Corporate Governance
    Industry: Automotive | Investments and Investment Advisory | Manufacturing
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Gregory V. Varallo, Daniel E. Meyer, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, Wilmington, DE; Peter B. Andrews, Craig J. Springer, David M. Sborz, Jackson E. Warren, Andrews & Springer LLC, Wilmington, DE; David E. Ross, Garrett B. Moritz, Thomas C. Mandracchia, Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP, Wilmington, DE; Catherine A. Gaul, Randall J. Teti, Ashby & Geddes, P.A., Wilmington, DE; John L. Reed, Ronald N. Brown, III, Caleb G. Johnson, Daniel P. Klusman, DLA Piper LLP (US), Wilmington, DE; Christine M. Mackintosh, Grant & Eisenhofer, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Daniel A. Griffith, Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLC, Wilmington, DE for plaintiff.
    for defendant: William M. Lafferty, Susan W. Waesco, Ryan D. Stottmann, Miranda N. Gilbert, Jacob M. Perrone, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, Wilmington, DE; Rudolf Koch, John D. Hendershot, Kevin M. Gallagher, Andrew L. Milam, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., Wilmington, DE; A. Thompson Bayliss, Adam K. Schulman, Eliezer Y. Feinstein, Abrams & Bayliss LLP, Wilmington, DE; David S. Eagle, Sally E. Veghte, Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP, Wilmington, DE; Anthony A. Rickey, Margrave Law LLC, Wilmington, DE; Theodore A. Kittila, Halloran Farkas + Kittila LLP, Wilmington, DE for defendants.

    Case Number: 2018-0408-KSJM

    Court limited other stockholders' motions to intervene to appealing the court's opinion letter where broader intervention could undermine the finality of the case and the stockholders' interest were adequately represented by the named plaintiff in the class action.

  • Tornetta v. Musk

    Publication Date: 2024-12-17
    Practice Area: Corporate Governance
    Industry: Automotive | Manufacturing
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Gregory V. Varallo, Daniel E. Meyer, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, Wilmington, DE; Jeroen van Kwawegen, Margaret Sanborn-Lowing, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, New York, NY; Peter B. Andrews, Craig J. Springer, David M. Sborz, Jackson E. Warren, Andrews & Springer LLC, Wilmington, DE; Jeremy S. Friedman, Spencer M. Oster, David F.E. Tejtel, Friedman Oster & Tejtel PLLC; Bedford Hills, New York for plaintiff.
    for defendant: David E. Ross, Garrett B. Moritz, Thomas C. Mandracchia, Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP, Wilmington, DE; Michael A. Barlow, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Wilmington, DE; Alex B. Spiro, Christopher D. Kercher, Jonathan E. Feder, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, New York, NY; Kathleen M. Sullivan, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Los Angeles, CA; Daniel Slifkin, Vanessa A. Lavely, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, New York, NY; Catherine A. Gaul, Randall J. Teti, Ashby & Geddes, P.A., Wilmington, DE; John L. Reed, Ronald N. Brown, III, Caleb G. Johnson, Daniel P. Klusman, DLA Piper LLP (US), Wilmington, DE; William M. Lafferty, Susan W. Waesco, Ryan D. Stottmann, Miranda N. Gilbert, Jacob M. Perrone, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, Wilmington, DE; Rudolf Koch, John D. Hendershot, Kevin M. Gallagher, Andrew L. Milam, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Brian T. Frawley, Matthew A. Schwartz, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, New York, NY; A. Thompson Bayliss, Adam K. Schulman, Eliezer Y. Feinstein, Abrams & Bayliss LLP, Wilmington, DE; Kristen R. Seeger, John M. Skakun III, Elizabeth Y. Austin, Sidley Austin LLP, Chicago, IL for defendants.

    Case Number: 2018-0408-KSJM

    Court rejected board's post-trial efforts to obtain stockholder "ratification" of executive compensation award that failed to meet entire fairness standard where ratification was an affirmative defense required to be raised before the close of trial and where material misstatements and omissions in proxy materials meant the vote alone could not ratify a conflicted controller driven award.

  • Floreani v. FloSports, Inc.

    Publication Date: 2024-11-12
    Practice Area: Corporate Governance
    Industry: E-Commerce | Technology Media and Telecom
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: John L. Reed, Peter H. Kyle, Daniel P. Klusman, DLA Piper LLP (US), Wilmington, DE for plaintiffs.
    for defendant: Scott James Leonhardt, The Rosner Law Group LLC, Wilmington, DE for defendant.

    Case Number: 2023-0684-LM

    Court dismissed books and records inspection requests for failures to comply with the form-and-manner requirements of §220.

  • Mehra v. Teller

    Publication Date: 2024-10-08
    Practice Area: Corporate Entities
    Industry: Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: John L. Reed, Peter H. Kyle, Kelly L. Freund, Daniel P. Klusman, DLA Piper LLP (US), Wilmington, DE; Patrick J. Smith, Brian T. Burns, Michael K. Sala, Clark Smith Villazor LLP, New York, NY for plaintiffs.
    for defendant: Jon E. Abramczyk, D. McKinley Measley, Elizabeth A. Mullin Stoffer, Kirk C. Andersen, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, Wilmington, DE for defendants.

    Case Number: 2019-0812-KSJM

    Court found that equal sharing provision in parties' LLC agreement had been triggered entitling plaintiff to equal distributions at the subsidiary level by transferring his economic rights to the subsidiary following the holding company's dissolution.

  • Tornetta v. Musk

    Publication Date: 2024-06-11
    Practice Area: Corporate Governance
    Industry: Automotive | Manufacturing | Technology Media and Telecom
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Vice Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Gregory V. Varallo, Glenn R. McGillivray, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, Wilmington, DE; Peter B. Andrews, Craig J. Springer, David M. Sborz, Andrew J. Peach, Jackson E. Warren, Andrews & Springer LLC, Wilmington, DE; Catherine A. Gaul, Ashby & Geddes, P.A., Wilmington, DE; John L. Reed, Ronald N. Brown, III, Caleb G. Johnson, Daniel P. Klusman, DLA Piper LLP (US), Wilmington, DE for plaintiff.
    for defendant: David E. Ross, Garrett B. Moritz, Thomas C. Mandracchia, Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP, Wilmington, DE; William M. Lafferty, Susan W. Waesco, Ryan D. Stottmann, Miranda N. Gilbert, Jacob M. Perrone, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, Wilmington, DE; Rudolf Koch, John D. Hendershot, Kevin M. Gallagher, Andrew L. Milam, Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., Wilmington, DE for defendants.

    Case Number: 2018-0408-KSJM

    Court denied plaintiff's motions to expedite resolution of post-trial issues based on defendants' assertion that an upcoming shareholder proxy vote would not affect the litigation.

  • In re Carvana Co. Stockholders Litig.

    Publication Date: 2024-04-08
    Practice Area: Corporate Entities
    Industry: Automotive | E-Commerce | Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Christine M. Mackintosh, Rebecca A. Musarra, Grant & Eisenhofer, P.A., Wilmington, DE; Kimberly A. Evans, Robert Erikson, Irene R. Lax, Block & Leviton LLP, Wilmington, DE; Jason M. Leviton, Amanda R. Crawford, Block & Leviton LLP, Boston, MA; Ned Weinberger, Mark Richardson, Jiahui (Rose) Wang, Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP, Wilmington, DE; Domenico Minerva, John Vielandi, Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP, New York, NY for plaintiffs.
    for defendant: Joseph R. Slights III, Brad D. Sorrels, Shannon E. German, Leah E. León, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., Wilmington, DE; David E. Ross, Adam D. Gold, R. Garrett Rice, Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP, Wilmington, DE; Brian M. Lutz, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, San Francisco, CA; Colin B. Davis, Katie Beaudin, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Irvine, CA; John L. Reed, Ronald N. Brown, III, Peter H. Kyle, Kelly L. Freund, DLA Piper LLP (US), Wilmington, DE for defendants.

    Case Number: 2020-0415-KSJM

    Court granted special litigation committee's motion to dismiss derivative action where members were sufficiently independent and disinterested and conducted a seven-month-long investigation that uncovered sufficient evidence to support the decision to move to dismiss.

  • LPPAS Representative, LLC v. ATH Holding Co., LLC

    Publication Date: 2023-05-16
    Practice Area: Mergers and Acquisitions
    Industry: Federal Government | Health Care | Insurance
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Kelly L. Freund, Michelle Morgan, DLA Piper LLP, Wilmington, DE; A. Thompson Bayliss, E. Wade Houston, Peter C. Cirka, Abrams & Bayliss LLP, Wilmington, DE for plaintiffs.
    for defendant: Kevin M. Coen, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, Wilmington, DE; Thomas Uebler, McCollum D’Emilio Smith Uebler LLC, Wilmington, DE; Glenn M. Kurtz, Elizabeth Stainton, White & Case LLP, New York, NY for defendants.

    Case Number: 2020-0241-KSJM

    Where indemnification provision in company purchase agreement gave sellers the right to participate in the defense of third-party claims brought by government regulators, purchasers breached those rights by unilaterally negotiating a tolling agreement with regulators.

  • Mehra v. Teller

    Publication Date: 2023-03-14
    Practice Area: Corporate Entities
    Industry: Consumer Products
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: John L. Reed, Peter H. Kyle, Kelly L. Freund, DLA Piper LLP, Wilmington, DE; Patrick J. Smith, Brian T. Burns, Smith Zillazor LLP, New York, NY for plaintiffs.
    for defendant: Jon E. Abramczyk, D. McKinley Measley, Alexandra Cumings, Elizabeth A. Mullin, Sebastian Van Oudenallen, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, Wilmington, DE for defendants.

    Case Number: 2019-0812-KSJM

    Although LLC agreement entitled member to continued economic distribution rights after Holdco distributed the shares it held in its subsidiary, the subsidiary was not an indispensable party where its manager and preferred members were already parties to the action and had authority to amend the subsidiary's LLC agreement.

  • In Re Carvana Co. Stockholders Litig.

    Publication Date: 2022-09-13
    Practice Area: Civil Procedure
    Industry: E-Commerce | Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Christine M. Mackintosh, Rebecca A. Musarra, Grant & Eisenhofer P.A., Wilmington, DE; Ned Weinberger, Labaton Sucharow LLP, Wilmington, DE; Jason M. Leviton, Joel A. Fleming, Lauren Godles Milgroom, Amanda R. Crawford, Block & Leviton LLP, Boston, MA; Domenico Minerva, John Vielandi, David MacIsaac, Labaton Sucharow LLP, New York, NY for plaintiffs.
    for defendant: David E. Ross, Adam D. Gold, R. Garrett Rice, Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP, Wilmington, DE; Brian M. Lutz, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, San Francisco, CA; Colin B. Davis, Katie Beaudin, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Irvine, CA; John L. Reed, Ronald N. Brown III, Peter H. Kyle, Kelly L. Freund, DLA Piper LLP (US), Wilmington, DE, for defendants.

    Case Number: 2020-0415-KSJM

    Court denied defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction finding that defendant was the majority stockholder and controller over the company at the time the forum selection clause was incorporated into the articles of incorporation.

  • In re Carvana Co. Stockholders Litig.

    Publication Date: 2022-07-12
    Practice Area: Corporate Governance
    Industry: Automotive | E-Commerce | Investments and Investment Advisory
    Court: Court of Chancery
    Judge: Chancellor McCormick
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Nathan A. Cook, Block & Leviton LLP, Wilmington, DE; Christine M. Mackintosh, Rebecca A. Musarra, Grant & Eisenhofer P.A., Wilmington, DE; Ned Weinberger, Labaton Sucharow LLP, Wilmington, DE; Jason M. Leviton, Joel A. Fleming, Lauren Godles Milgroom, Amanda R. Crawford, Block & Leviton LLP, Boston, MA; Domenico Minerva, John Vielandi, David MacIsaac, Labaton Sucharow LLP, New York, NY for plaintiffs.
    for defendant: David E. Ross, Adam D. Gold, R. Garrett Rice, Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP, Wilmington, DE; Brian M. Lutz, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, San Francisco, CA; Colin B. Davis, Katie Beaudin, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Irvine, CA; John L. Reed, Ronald N. Brown, III, Peter H. Kyle, Kelly L. Freund, DLA Piper LLP (US), Wilmington, DE for defendants.

    Case Number: D69879

    Stockholders sufficiently pled director conflict and lack of independence by alleging numerous personal and professional ties stretching back decades between the directors and the company's controlling family.