Business Law Legal Research Blog

CORPORATIONS:  When Traditional Standing Rules Do Not Apply to Shareholder Derivative Actions
Charlene J. Hicks—Senior Attorney
        Standing, or the right to pursue a judicial action, is often viewed in black-and-white terms, that is, either a plaintiff does or does not have standing. In some situations, however, the plaintiff’s status cannot be

Nadine Roddy, Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
      In a most unusual case recently before the federal district court sitting in Nevada, Barnes v. Kijakazi, No. 3:18-cv-00199-MMD-WGC, 2023 WL 3007904 (D. Nev. Apr. 19, 2023), a pro se plaintiff asserted a claim of disparate-impact discrimination against the Social Security Administration

Charlene Hicks, Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
        Bankruptcy preference litigation involves situations in which the plaintiff (normally the trustee) tries to claw back substantial monetary payments debtors make to creditors within 90 days of filing for bankruptcy. Preference cases are deceptively simple in form. However, complications often arise, particularly

Anne Hemenway, Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group, Inc.
             It is not uncommon for a debtor who filed a Chapter 11 or 13 bankruptcy case to die or become incapacitated during the life of the bankruptcy proceeding. Under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1016:
If a reorganization, family farmer’s

Lee Dunham—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
 
      It can be frustrating for creditors when a debtor files for bankruptcy, especially when the creditor has put time and expense into successfully litigating a claim in court and obtaining a judgment. Nonetheless, with limited exceptions, even judgment debts are dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Charlene Hicks—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
            It is common enough for an overworked attorney drafting a contract to regard a choice-of-law clause as boilerplate and therefore not in need of thoughtful consideration. However, the specific wording of such a clause may well alter the outcome of a future dispute between the contracting

Charlene Hicks—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
            Prior to bringing a shareholder derivative action, the complaining shareholders must normally make a detailed presuit demand on the corporation’s board of directors or show the court that such a demand would be futile. In United Food & Commercial Workers Union v. Zuckerberg, No. 404,

Anne Hemenway—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group
            Facing tens of thousands of claims against Johnson & Johnson’s (“J&J’s”) baby powder and other talc products, alleging that the baby powder contains asbestos and causes cancer, J&J put the talc claims into a separate entity called LTL Management LLC, which then filed for Chapter 11