Overview
On January 31, Delaware Business Court Insider quoted Michael Dockterman in their article, "'It's Really Created a Buzz': Could McDonald's Decision Expand Scope for 'Caremark' Litigation?" The piece discusses a recent ruling in the Delaware Court of Chancery that corporate officers' fiduciary duties run parallel to those of directors. The decision by Vice Chancellor Laster is believed to be the first to explicitly state that standard applies specifically to oversight claims, expanding the limits of Caremark litigation.
Dockterman said in regards to the decision: "Since 1996, Caremark has been out there, and this is the first time that an opinion's said that officers have Caremark duties as well. We all assumed that was the case. That, to me, is logical, not remarkable. The more novel part of the opinion is the decision at the end that there can be a Caremark claim, and theoretically a derivative claim, that an officer breached the duty of loyalty by doing something selfish."
Read the full article at Delaware Business Court Insider.
Dockterman, along with Nate Kritzer, and John Byron recently authored an article, which discusses the decision in In Re McDonald's Corporation Stockholder Derivative Litigation. Read "Look Beyond the Headlines: Delaware's Extension of Caremark Claims to Officers Is Not as Revolutionary as You Might Think," here.