Chief Judge Stark provided clarification regarding the Delaware District Court’s new filing and service deadline of 6:00 p.m., effective October 16.

In In re KKR Financial Holdings LLC Shareholder Litigation, the Court of Chancery granted defendants’ motions to dismiss with prejudice a suit challenging the acquisition of KKR Financial Holdings LLC by KKR & Co. L.P.

In an opinion assessing damages in In re Rural/Metro Corp. S’holders Litig., the Court of Chancery held that a financial advisor, which had been held liable in an earlier opinion for aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duty by a board of directors in connection with approving a merger and related disclosures, would be required to pay 83% of the damages to the stockholder class.

On September 30, 2014, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware entered an order affirming the Delaware Bankruptcy Court’s grant of summary judgment to a defendant/appellee on a plaintiff/appellant’s claims to avoid and recover two equity distributions totaling $55 million as constructively fraudulent transfers. Whyte v. Ritchie SH Hldgs. LLC, et al (In…

Effective October 16, 2014, all electronic transmissions of documents to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware (including motions, briefs, appendices, and discovery responses), with the exception of initial pleadings, must be completed by 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time in order to be considered timely filed and served that day. 

On September 18, the U.S. Senate approved S. 2101, which would amend the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (ILSA) to exempt condominium developments from its registration requirements. The U.S. House of Representatives had previously approved identical legislation. The bill will now go to the President for signature, which it is expected he will do. This…

While Chapter 11 remains an attractive mechanism for selling distressed assets, some purchasers and sellers looking to avoid the costs or oversight associated with the Chapter 11 process instead choose to effectuate a pre-bankruptcy sale followed by filing a Chapter 7 petition. There is no denying that Chapter 11 can be expensive and that there may…

Delaware Passes Legislation Protecting Pregnant Workers from Discrimination and Retaliation and Requiring Accommodations On September 9, 2014, Governor Markell signed into law Senate Bill No. 212, as amended, which enacts new provisions to the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act. These amendments clarify that it is unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire, to discharge, or…

Under an opinion dated August 6, 2014, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court denied a motion to compel the production of post-sale financial information. The plaintiff’s claims were for breach of fiduciary duty and aiding and abetting thereof arising from the debtor’s pre-petition sale of certain assets to the defendants. The defendants were the former officers of the…

In City of Providence v. First Citizens Bancshares, Inc., et al., the Court of Chancery granted a motion to dismiss a challenge to a bylaw, adopted by the board of directors of First Citizens Bancshares, Inc., that requires, to the extent permitted by law, certain intra-corporate claims to be brought exclusively in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, or, if that court lacks jurisdiction, then in any North Carolina state court that possesses jurisdiction.