In Pyott v. Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System, No. 380, 2012, 2013 WL 1364695 (Del. Apr. 4, 2013), the Delaware Supreme Court held the Delaware Court of Chancery erred in refusing to dismiss a derivative complaint nearly identical to one brought by different stockholders in federal court in California, which the federal court had earlier dismissed for failure to plead demand futility. According to the Supreme Court, the Chancery Court’s constitutional obligation to give full faith and credit to other state and federal judgments required it to apply California (not Delaware) collateral estoppel law, and that law clearly precluded the Delaware action. The Supreme Court also held the federal plaintiffs’ failure to first conduct a books and records inspection of Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“Section 220”), 8 Del. Code § 220, before filing suit did not, by itself, give rise to an irrebuttable presumption that they had inadequately represented the corporation. The Court of Chancery had applied such presumption in further refusing to dismiss the Delaware action on collateral estoppel grounds. This decision provides greater certainty to Delaware corporations hit with derivative actions in multiple jurisdictions.Continue Reading Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Preclusive Effect of Non-Delaware Dismissals and Rejects Irrebuttable Presumption That a Derivative Plaintiff Who Fails to Conduct a Section 220 Inspection Is an Inadequate Representative

In Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC v. Roche Diagnostics GmbH, C.A. No. 5589-VCP, 2013 WL 911118 (Del. Ch. Feb. 22, 2013, rev. Mar. 8, 2013), the Delaware Court of Chancery held that a reverse triangular merger does not result in an assignment of the assets of the surviving entity by operation of law. Although the Meso Scale Diagnostics decision confirms, at least under Delaware law, the long-standing view of many practitioners that a reverse triangular merger does not result in an assignment by operation of law, it does not directly affect the contrary position taken by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in SQL Solutions, Inc. v. Oracle Corp., 1991 WL 626458 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 19, 1991), that under California law a reverse triangular merger does constitute an assignment by operation of law. As a result, foreign (i.e., non-California) corporations in California subject to Section 2115 of the California Corporations Code (“Section 2115”) must consider the holdings in Meso Scale Diagnostics and SQL Solutions when analyzing the effect that an acquisitions may have on contractual anti-assignment provisions.Continue Reading Delaware and California Courts Split as to Whether a Reverse Triangular Merger Results In an Assignment By Operation of Law, Creating Potential Pitfalls for Delaware and Other Foreign Corporations Located in California

In City of Livonia Employee Retirement System v. Boeing Co., Nos. 12-1899, 12-2009 2013 WL 1197791 (7th Cir. Mar. 26, 2013), the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Posner, J.) affirmed the dismissal of a securities fraud class action against the Boeing Company (“Boeing”) and remanded the question of whether sanctions under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure should be levied against plaintiffs’ counsel after allegations attributed to a confidential witness, which initially saved the case from dismissal, were later denied by the witness. The Court’s ruling provides a strong reminder that plaintiffs’ counsel in securities cases must exercise great care when using allegations of confidential witnesses to satisfy the heightened pleading standards of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4 (“Reform Act”).Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Securities Fraud Class Action, Remanding Question of Sanctions Against Plaintiffs’ Counsel

This article was originally published by the Daily Journal.

In a recent panel discussion, one of the speakers was a so-called "ethical hacker" – a hacker-turned-protector of employers’ confidential information. As someone at the forefront of cyberattacks, the ethical hacker’s opinion was that there are two types of employers: those that know they have been hacked, and those that do not. And with all of the press coverage regarding recent hacks into U.S. confidential security information, it seems our ethical hacker may well be right. Indeed, in March, James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, suggested that cyberattacks now pose the most dangerous immediate threat to the U.S.Continue Reading Cyberattacks a mounting challenge for employers

As previously reported (click here), the payment of certain severance benefits may be exempt from FICA taxes. Under the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Quality Stores (click here), severance pay made in connection with an involuntary separation from employment due to a reduction in force, plant shutdown or similar condition (“supplemental unemployment compensation benefits”) are not subject to FICA taxes. The request by the IRS for an en banc review of the Quality Stores decision was denied by the Sixth Circuit. The Supreme Court has granted the government’s request for a one-month extension to file its petition for certiorari, extending the due date from April 4 to May 3.Continue Reading Deadline for Filing FICA Tax Refunds is April 15

In Levitt v. J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc., No. 10-4596, 2013 WL 1007678 (2d Cir. Mar. 15, 2013), theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court order certifying a class of shareholder fraud plaintiffs in a lawsuit against J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Clearing Corporation (“J.P. Morgan”). The decision reaffirms that a clearing broker generally owes no fiduciary duty to the owners of securities that pass through its hands. According to the Second Circuit, absent evidence that the clearing broker instigated or directed the alleged fraud by the securities issuer through high involvement, a plaintiff cannot establish a class-wide presumption of investor reliance sufficient to satisfy the predominance requirement of Rule 23(b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.Continue Reading Second Circuit Reverses Class Certification Order, Holding That a Clearing Broker’s Alleged Knowledge of Fraud Against Shareholders, Absence Direct Involvement, Is Insufficient to Create a Duty of Disclosure

The California Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (RULLCA) was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in September 2012. Intended to come into effect on January 1, 2014, RULLCA replaces the Beverly-Killea Limited Liability Company Act, and significantly revises the rules for formation and operation of Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) in the state of California. Most importantly, RULLCA applies retroactively to existing LLCs. There is no ability for existing California LLCs to “opt out” of RULLCA; it will apply and potentially “rewrite” substantive provisions of existing California LLC operating agreements. It, therefore, is important that the operating agreements of existing California LLCs now be reviewed with RULLCA in mind to identify provisions that will either be out of compliance with RULLCA or which may need revision prior to 2014 if RULLCA is not revised or repealed prior to its implementation.
Continue Reading California’s Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act

In Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Citigroup, Inc., No. 10-0722-cv(L) and 10-0867-cv(CON), 2013 WL 791397 (2d Cir. Mar. 5, 2013), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuitupheld the dismissal of two related class action complaints brought on behalf of purchasers of auction rate securities (“ARS”) and ARS issuers, respectively, against a number of large financial institutions. The complaints alleged that the financial institutions violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, by conspiring to stop purchasing ARS, thereby rendering ARS almost valueless and triggering the collapse of the ARS market. The Second Circuit based its holding upon a principle first announced by the United States Supreme Court in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) [see blog article here] — that antitrust complaints must allege sufficient factual matter to allow a fact-finder to plausibly infer that the plaintiffs’ alleged injuries were the result of an unlawful conspiracy, rather than independent parallel business conduct.Continue Reading Second Circuit Rules That Putative Auction Rate Securities Class Action Complaints Failed to Adequately Plead Antitrust Conspiracy

In New Jersey Carpenters Health Fund v. Royal Bank of Scotland Group, PLC, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 4317 (2d Cir. Mar. 1, 2013), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the dismissal of a claim for violations of Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 77k, 77l, holding that the plaintiff pleaded sufficient facts to support a reasonable inference that defendants misstated mortgage underwriting guidelines to investors. This decision is notable for its application of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) pleading standard, as clarified by the United States Supreme Court in BellAtlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), to claims under the Securities Act.Continue Reading Second Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Section 11 and 12(a)(2) Claims, Holding that Plaintiff’s Allegations Were Sufficient to Plead a Reasonable Inference of Misrepresentations in a Prospectus

In Belmont v. MB Investment Partners, Inc., No. 12-1580, 2013 WL 646344 (3d Cir. Feb. 22, 2013), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that a mere failure by corporate directors to oversee enforcement of compliance protocols which, if properly enforced, might have led to the directors’ knowledge of securities fraud by a corporate employee does not establish the directors’ “culpable participation” in the employee’s misconduct sufficient to support controlling person liability under Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 78t(a). Third Circuit held additionally that corporate directors may not be held personally liable for misconduct of corporate employers under a theory of negligent supervision. These rulings reinforce protections for directors from personal exposure to damages caused to third parties by harmful acts of employees, even where better corporate oversight might have been able to prevent the harm caused by the employees.Continue Reading Third Circuit Reinforces Limits to Directors’ Exposure for Misconduct by Corporate Employees