law

‘A big black box’?: What to expect now that the DGCL has been amended

Delaware Business Court Insider

Amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law approved by the legislature and Gov. John Carney become effective Aug. 1, generally addressing three areas of corporate governance in response to three Court of Chancery decisions issued within the past year.

The latest batch of changes has seen less unanimous support from the corporate bar than the amendment process usually does, with one area in particular drawing criticism: In response to Moelis & Co. shareholder litigation decided in February, Section 122 will now allow corporate boards to use their discretion to sign agreements giving governance rights to shareholders they previously could not have under Section 141(a).

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Administrators express hope that admission changes will fill need for Delaware attorneys

Delaware Business Court Insider

A judicial report was recently released detailing steps that have been taken in the past two years to increase diversity on Delaware’s bench and bar, the bulk of which involve creating a pipeline of future Delaware attorneys through increased access to education and bar admission.

That has included lowering the bar cut score by two points, cutting back on essay questions, reducing the length of clerkships required, narrowing the checklist of legal proceedings prospective attorneys need to sit in on and lowering late application fees.

Those involved with the bar admissions process say more time is needed to say for sure whether the changes will lead to more attorneys practicing in Delaware, but that early signs have been promising.

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How may US judges vet experts for jurors? The new evidence rule set to take effect is sparking debate

Delaware Law Weekly

An upcoming change to a federal evidence rule has garnered support from those who say judges have not been consistently stringent in evaluating expert testimony post-Daubert, but critics say it’s a push for an unfair defense bar advantage billed as a crackdown on junk science at trial.

The update to Rule 702, set to go into effect officially on Dec. 1, has raised the issue of whether it’s a long overdue way to hold judges to an evidentiary standard they should have been following for decades or if it encourages them to cross over into the jurors’ domain.

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Delaware bar leaders: Admission changes remove obstacles, maintain high standards

Delaware Law Weekly

Attorneys are expressing hope that a series of changes to Delaware’s bar exam and admission process will remove unnecessary obstacles to practicing law in the state while keeping intact the high admission standards it’s known for.

Lowering the exam cut score by two points, offering the exam twice a year and cutting back the essay section and its possible topics significantly are overall positive, leaders in Delaware’s legal education community said, but they may be the first of many changes in a more dramatic overhaul of the country’s most exclusive bar.

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Shareholder tensions rise as corporations consider limiting officer liability

Delaware Business Court Insider

Delaware corporations and their shareholders have over the last few weeks begun navigating the recently enacted law allowing them to limit corporate officers’ liability, with the first vote approving the change closely followed by the first lawsuit on the issue.

The law, which went into effect Aug. 1, is thought by some to be in effect little more than a formality, extending officers the same exculpations board members have had for years in Delaware, but others are concerned by the impact on options shareholders would have when making breach of duty of care claims.

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The ‘longest,’ ‘most emotional’ experience: Attorneys mark final plan approval in Boy Scouts case

Delaware Law Weekly

More than two and a half years after the Boy Scouts of America first filed for bankruptcy in the District of Delaware, attorneys for tens of thousands of sexual abuse survivors are celebrating the court’s approval of a final Chapter 11 plan.

Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein’s final approval last week means a trust of more than $2.4 billion in settlement funds obtained to date can start to be distributed to the more than 82,000 abuse claimants, though there’s no set timetable for when that process will be complete.

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Corporations are (made up of) people, too: How corporate lawyers are dealing with juror mistrust

Law.com

Masks and plexiglass dividers in jury boxes might be on their way out as the pandemic fades, but there’s a growing trend among jurors that’s only getting stronger: skepticism toward the big, bad, faceless corporation.

That’s led many who represent companies to place more of an emphasis on humanizing their clients in an effort to offset jurors’ growing David-and-Goliath mindset in cases pitting a large corporation against one person or a smaller entity.

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Delaware DOJ’s public corruption trial success rate signals case against state auditor will be tough

Delaware Law Weekly

Delaware Auditor Kathy McGuiness is heading to trial this week, facing five corruption-related criminal charges.

If the Department of Justice’s recent track record on public official conviction is any indication, a full acquittal isn’t out of the question, but it’s also not unlikely McGuiness will be convicted of at least one charge.

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Connolly Gallagher attorney elected to Delaware senate, unseating 20-year incumbent

Delaware Law Weekly

A Connolly Gallagher attorney won election to the Delaware Senate on Tuesday, flipping the fifth district seat blue for the first time in at least four decades.

Kyle Evans Gay said Wednesday she attributed her win over 20-year Republican incumbent Catherine Cloutier to Brandywine Hundred voters’ prioritization of action on education, health care and COVID-19 relief and recovery.

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Nearly 40 years after South Dakota changed sentencing law, dozens are serving 100 years or more for first-degree manslaughter

The Daily Republic

Read the original story here.

Nearly 25 years ago, Joaquin Ramos entered the South Dakota State Penitentiary to begin a life sentence for first-degree manslaughter, angry about the circumstances that led him there.

On Aug. 22, he sat down with The Daily Republic during regular evening visiting hours in the penitentiary’s visitation room. Over the course of about an hour and a half, as other inmates chatted and played cards with family members, he spoke about his time in prison and said if he hadn’t been put behind bars, he would likely have remained the angry person he was when he committed his crime.

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