In recent years, many states have enacted pre-mortem validation statutes enabling testators or settlors to take proactive steps to avoid will or trust contests. Pre-mortem validation statutes provide a mechanism to be used during the testator’s life to ensure testamentary documents are declared valid and to avoid post-death challenges. Another approach that offers a strong deterrent to will... Continue Reading

On August 1, 2018, the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (DLLCA) was amended to add, among other things, a division statute (Amendments). The Amendments included new Section 18-217 which permits a Delaware limited liability company (LLC) to divide into two or more LLCs (each a Division company). In a division, the LLC effecting the division (the Dividing company) continues its existence or... Continue Reading

Over the last decade, trust law has evolved so the role of trustee can better reflect the open architecture that modern families desire. It’s now commonplace for trust settlors to design so-called “directed trusts,” and existing trusts are frequently transferred to new jurisdictions to be modified through the use of techniques such as decanting, non-judicial settlements agreements, consent... Continue Reading

The 2018 amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (the ‘‘DGCL’’) were recently enacted. The amendments update the ratification statute, Section 204, to address recent case law. Nonstock or ‘‘membership’’ corporations are now also permitted to use the statutory ratification provisions to cure corporate defects. With respect to the avail- ability of appraisal rights in... Continue Reading

Karen Jacobs, Megan E. Dellinger, Eleanor G. Tennyson, “Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Immunity,” Ch. 5, Patent Litigation (3rd Edition), Practising Law Institute (September 2018).. Continue Reading

Delaware recently passed amendments to the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act that enable a new type of series of an LLC known as a “registered series.” The changes address historical uncertainty among lenders seeking to perfect a security interest with respect to a secured lending transaction involving a series of a Delaware limited liability company as a borrower... Continue Reading

In its last session, the Delaware legislature passed a number of amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) and the Delaware “alternative entity” statutes—the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (the “DLLCA”), the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (the “DRULPA”), the Delaware Revised Uniform Partnership Act (the “DRUPA”) and the... Continue Reading

Statutory appraisal remedies allow stockholders who believe they have received inadequate consideration in certain transactions, such as mergers or consolidations, to obtain a judicial determination of the fair value of their shares. Over the years, courts, litigants, and experts alike have grappled with how to make an appropriate fair value determination. To marshal the evidence necessary to most... Continue Reading

David A. Harris, Louis G. Hering, “2018 Summary of Delaware Case Law Relating to Alternative Entities,” 2018 Annual Meeting of ABA, Section of Business Law (Feb. 20, 2018).. Continue Reading

For many years Delaware corporate law was mainly public company law. But now there is a critical mass of case law relevant to private and venture-backed companies, with 2017 adding to that law perhaps more than any prior year... Continue Reading