Recent Articles

Delaware Chancery Court Clarifies When Corporate Officers and Directors are Entitled to Mandatory Indemnification Under DGCL ยง 145

Sheppard Mullin
March 19, 2012 21:49

In Hermelin v. K-V Pharmaceutical Co., C.A. No. 6936-VCG, 2012 WL 395826 (Del. Ch. Feb. 7, 2012), the Delaware Court of Chancery considered whether the former chief executive officer (“CEO”) of a pharmaceutical company, against whom several regulatory and criminal actions had been...

The March Towards Meaningful Reform for Small and Emerging Growth Companies Moves Forward - House Passes Measures to Open Private Capital Raising and Facilitate an On-Ramp of New IPOs

Sheppard Mullin
March 12, 2012 20:44

Building on months of momentum in Congress, on March 8, 2012, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act by a bi-partisan vote of 390-23. A similar bill, S. 1933, has been introduced in the Senate and may be voted on this month. The JOBS Act is intended...

Second Circuit Clarifies Meaning of "Domestic Transactions" As Used In Morrison v. National Australia Bank

Sheppard Mullin
March 12, 2012 19:08

In Absolute Activist Value Master Fund Ltd. v. Ficeto, 2012 WL 661771 (2d Cir. Mar. 1, 2012), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that, for purposes of applying the federal securities laws to transactions involving securities not traded on a U.S.-based stock exchange, a...

California's New Entities: Benefit Corporations and Flexible Purpose Corporations

Sheppard Mullin
February 22, 2012 23:51

By William Manierre As of January 1, 2012, two new subtypes of traditional business corporations may be organized under the California Corporations Code – benefit corporations (§§14600-14631) and flexible purpose corporations (§§2500-3503). Both free their directors from...

First Circuit Holds That Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Extends Only to Employees of Public Companies, Not Employees of Private Companies Who Are Contractors or Subcontractors for Covered Public Companies

Sheppard Mullin
February 15, 2012 20:24

In Lawson v. FMR LLC, No. 10-2240, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 2085 (1st Cir. Feb. 3, 2012), the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in a case of first impression, held that the whistleblower provision in Section 806 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A...

Capital Markets Practice

Sheppard Mullin
February 09, 2012 18:45

Sheppard Mullin's capital markets lawyers practice from all eight major legal markets in California as well as New York, Washington, D.C., Europe and Asia. Our lawyers participate in every stage of capital formation, from incorporation to financing, to growth capital, to the public markets, and...

Public Company Control Alert: NYSE Acts to Further Limit Broker Votes on Specified Corporate Governance Proposals

Sheppard Mullin
January 28, 2012 00:01

On January 25, 2012, the New York Stock Exchange issued an Information Memo to its member organizations stating that effective immediately, brokers may not vote on corporate governance proposals supported by company management without instructions from their clients. NYSE’s rules affect the...

Higher Filing Thresholds for HSR Act Premerger Notifications and Interlocking Directorates Announced

Sheppard Mullin
January 27, 2012 23:18

1. Higher Thresholds For HSR Filings On January 24, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission announced revised, higher thresholds for premerger filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. The filing thresholds are revised annually, based on the change in gross national product...

Further Relief on Section 6045B Reporting

Sheppard Mullin
January 17, 2012 18:03

As previously reported in the January 9th blog article, today is the last day to file Form 8937 to report 2011 corporate actions that affect stock basis, as required under Internal Revenue Code section 6045B. Because the actual IRS Form 8937 was only very recently released, and because a number of...

Foreign Corporation's Mere Awareness That Its Products May Ultimately End Up In a Forum State Is Not Sufficient Contact to Support Personal Jurisdiction

Sheppard Mullin
January 12, 2012 18:57

In Dow Chemical Canada ULC v. Superior Court, 2011 WL 6382110 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. Dec. 21, 2011), the California Court of Appeal, Second District, held that “plac[ing] products into the stream of commerce in a foreign country (or another state), aware that some may or will be swept into the...