Many courts recognize that a corporation's constituent (such as an audit committee or a group of independent directors) can own the privilege and work product protection covering the constituent's internal corporate investigation. Under this approach, the company's bankruptcy trustee cannot access or waive that privilege or work product protection. See, e.g., Ex parte Smith, 942 So. 2d 356 (Ala. 2006) (denying a bankruptcy trustee's attempt to access pre-bankruptcy communications between the company's independent directors and its Skadden Arps lawyers).
Several of the Official Bankruptcy Forms will be replaced on December 1, 2015. For creditors, the most notable changes will be to two forms: the Proof of Claim form, Form 410, and the Mortgage Proof of Claim Attachment, Form 410A. These changes reflect an effort by the Bankruptcy Courts to elicit a clear and complete picture of what the debtor owes and how much must be paid to cure a pre-bankruptcy arrearage. Due to the Bankruptcy Court’s focus on clarity, creditors are well advised to closely follow the claim forms and accompanying instructions.
A Delaware bankruptcy judge recently ruled that information concerning the compensation and performance of “hand-picked” directors of a private equity firm’s portfolio company was discoverable in an action for breach of fiduciary duty against the private equity firm.
Quadrant Structured Prods. Co., LTD. v. Vertin, 115 A.3d 525 (Del. Ch. 2015)
Did you know as an officer or director of a Delaware corporation you may owe fiduciary duties to creditors and not just shareholders? If your company is insolvent, you do. But directly or derivatively? What duties? And what if your company later becomes solvent? The Court of Chancery decision Quadrant Structured Products Company, LTD. v. Vertin from earlier this year went a long way to clarifying this area of the law.
In Quadrant Structured Products Company, Ltd. v. Vertin (Oct. 20, 2015), the Delaware Court of Chancery, in a post-trial decision, rejected Quadrant’s challenges to transactions by Athilon Capital Corp., with Athilon’s sole stockholder (private equity firm Merced), after Athilon had returned to solvency following a long period of insolvency. Merced held all of Athilon’s equity and all of its junior notes; and both Quadrant and Merced held the company’s publicly traded senior notes.
In this post-trial decision, the Court of Chancery held that a company’s repurchase of senior notes from an insider approximately six months after returning to solvency did not violate the express or implied terms of the indenture, constitute a fraudulent transfer, nor give rise to fiduciary duty claims on which the creditor had standing to sue.
Technology companies can preserve both significant sums of money and valuable intellectual property rights if they take action when a customer or business partner files for bankruptcy protection. Far less effort is usually required to preserve these rights than what may be involved in a major piece of litigation; but, in almost every case, the company must take timely steps to ensure that its interests are protected.
At first glance, Stanziale v. MILK072011, looks like someone suing over a bad expiration date and conjures up images of Ron Burgundy proclaiming “milk was a bad choice.” But in actuality Stanziale is much more interesting: it answers whether one can breach their fiduciary duty by exposing an employer to a claim under the aptly-named WARN Act, which requires employers to tip off their workers to a possible job loss.
When entrepreneurs decide to embark upon a new endeavor, they must first decide the form of entity to be used in conducting their business. Do they want to incorporate the business, and if so should they elect Subchapter S status? Would they be better served by forming a limited liability company, a limited liability partnership, or a general partnership? Each of these entities has its own beneficial characteristics when considering tax consequences, ease of operation, and potential liabilities of the individual entrepreneurs.