Randall Chase

December 08, 2006 | Law.com

A U.S. lawyer representing Panama and the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has asked the Delaware Supreme Court to overturn the dismissal of a suit against the tobacco industry. The two foreign governments seek to recover expenses for the medical care of sick smokers. A lower court judge in Delaware dismissed the suit in June, ruling that the two governments were not seeking damages for personal injuries and failed to establish that tobacco products were the proximate cause of any economic injuries.

By Randall Chase

3 minute read

December 15, 2005 | Law.com

DuPont has agreed to pay $10.25 million in fines and $6.25 million for environmental projects to settle allegations by the Environmental Protection Agency that the company hid information about a toxic chemical used to make the nonstick coating Teflon and found in the blood of most Americans. The settlement announced Wednesday represents the largest civil administrative penalty obtained by the EPA under any federal environmental statute.

By Randall Chase

5 minute read

May 22, 2007 | Law.com

Judges in Delaware's famed business court are keeping a close eye on legal issues concerning the recent wave of private equity buyouts of public corporations. And in recent rulings, Court of Chancery judges have signaled that Delaware plans to take the lead in disputes arising from the buyouts. A key issue is whether managers negotiating deals in which they would keep their jobs after helping take companies private are diligent enough in trying to maximize shareholder value by finding other bidders.

By Randall Chase

4 minute read

November 06, 2007 | Law.com

Delaware Vice Chancellor Leo Strine Jr. on Monday set a tentative July trial date in the dispute between Sallie Mae and an investor group seeking to terminate its proposed $25 billion buyout of the student lender. SLM Corp., better known as Sallie Mae, has sought an expedited trial to force the group either to complete the deal at the original $25 billion price or pay a $900 million breakup fee. Sallie Mae's attorney told Strine that actions by the buyout group have amounted to "business slander."

By Randall Chase

3 minute read

February 06, 2007 | Corporate Counsel

One year after agreeing to an EPA request to work toward phasing out a chemical used in making Teflon, the DuPont Co. says it plans to stop using it by 2015. An EPA advisory board concluded last year that the chemical, PFOA, should be classified as a likely carcinogen. In 2005, DuPont agreed to pay more than $107 million to settle a class action filed by people living near a West Virginia plant who claimed the company intentionally withheld information about PFOA's threat to human health.

By Randall Chase

4 minute read

October 10, 2006 | Law.com

After a lengthy auction stretching over two days, a federal bankruptcy judge last week approved the $134.3 million sale of California-based Tower Records to Great American Group, which plans to liquidate the music retailer. Great American beat out Trans World Entertainment, which had hoped to continue operating at least some Tower stores, by one bid increment of $500,000. An attorney representing Tower's secured trade creditors had urged the bankruptcy judge to go with Trans World's bid as the "best bid."

By Randall Chase

3 minute read

October 07, 2005 | Law.com

The Delaware Supreme Court rejected a town councilman's quest to find out who posted obscenity-laden tirades about him on the Internet, saying free speech concerns outweighed the politician's argument that he was defamed. The decision Wednesday reversed a lower court ruling ordering an Internet service provider to disclose the identity of four anonymous posters to a blog site operated by Independent Newspapers Inc., publisher of the Delaware State News.

By Randall Chase

2 minute read

August 11, 2010 | Law.com

A Delaware bankruptcy judge has rejected Washington Mutual's attempt to get personal financial information from shareholders who are demanding an annual company meeting. Members of the shareholders committee are hoping to elect new board members, alleging that the current WaMu board is resisting the election of new directors who would protect shareholder interests in the company's reorganization plan and the related settlement of a $4 billion dispute with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

By Randall Chase

4 minute read

August 10, 2005 | Law.com

The Walt Disney Co.'s board did not breach its fiscal responsibilities by agreeing to hire Hollywood superagent Michael Ovitz as president in 1995, then granting him a $140 million severance package when he left just 14 months later, a judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling closes a shareholder derivative trial that revealed the stormy inner workings of one of the world's largest entertainment companies. The suit claimed that members of Disney's board did not properly scrutinize Ovitz's employment contract.

By Randall Chase

5 minute read

December 15, 2009 | Law.com

The eBay executive who led the online auction site's efforts to gain a minority stake in Craigslist warned that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman had a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality, Craigslist CEO James Buckmaster said Monday. He testified that two days after a March 2005 Craigslist board meeting, eBay executive Garrett Price expressed frustration at the progress of the two companies agreeing on an international joint venture. Price said he needed to remind Craigslist officials there were "two Meg Whitmans," Buckmaster said.

By Randall Chase

4 minute read