This session will provide a comprehensive understanding of the Business Judgment Rule (BJR) as it applies to corporate governance, with a specific focus on how directors and officers can navigate potential litigation. The session will start with a foundational overview of the BJR, followed by an in-depth analysis of the key legal cases that have shaped its application. Additionally, the session will delve into the strategies for advising corporate clients—particularly directors and officers—on how to avoid becoming targets of litigation, including the role of independent board directors in mitigating risk.
Session Structure and Key Topics:
1. Introduction to the Business Judgment Rule (BJR)
Objective: Provide a foundational understanding of the BJR and its role in corporate governance.
- Definition of the BJR and its purpose in protecting directors and officers from liability.
--- The BJR presumption: when courts defer to the decisions of corporate leaders.
--- Key elements required to invoke the BJR: good faith, rationality, and lack of conflicts of interest.
--- Key areas where the BJR applies: financial decisions, strategic direction, and operational oversight.
2. Key Legal Cases Shaping the Business Judgment Rule
Objective: Explore the landmark cases that have defined and evolved the application of the BJR.
- Smith v. Van Gorkom (1985): The duty of care in decision-making and its relation to the BJR.
- Aronson v. Lewis (1984): The standard for judging board decisions and establishing the BJR presumption.
- In re Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation (1996): The BJR's application in oversight and monitoring duties.
- Stone v. Ritter (2006): Examining the role of good faith and the implications for directors' oversight responsibilities.
- Directors' duty of loyalty vs. duty of care: Understanding the balance and how courts distinguish between them.
3. Litigating Business Judgment: Defending and Pursuing Claims
Objective: Offer insight into the litigation landscape for D&O claims and how the BJR impacts defense and pursuit of litigation.
- Litigating under the BJR: When the rule can be overcome by plaintiffs and how courts assess the decision-making process of directors.
- Strategies for defending directors and officers in lawsuits, including the use of the BJR as a key defense.
- How plaintiffs attempt to overcome the BJR (e.g., allegations of bad faith, lack of independence, or conflicts of interest).
- Case studies and trends in shareholder derivative suits and class actions.
4. How to Advise Directors and Officers to Avoid Becoming Targets of Litigation
Objective: Discuss proactive strategies for corporate advisors to help directors and officers avoid litigation exposure.
- Best practices for documenting decisions to ensure alignment with the BJR.
- The importance of maintaining a robust conflict-of-interest policy and board independence.
- Key governance practices that mitigate risks: regular board evaluations, clear delegation of authority, and transparency in decision-making.
- Ensuring compliance with statutory and fiduciary duties—particularly in distressed situations.
- The role of internal and external advisors in helping directors navigate complex situations.
5. The Role of Independent Board Directors in Mitigating Risk
Objective: Highlight the importance of independent directors in protecting the organization and its leadership from litigation.
- Defining the role and responsibilities of independent board members.
- How independent directors help reinforce the BJR in decision-making processes.
- The critical role of independent directors in distressed or bankruptcy situations.
- Best practices for selecting, empowering, and working with independent board directors to safeguard against personal liability.
Target Audience:
General Business Bankruptcy Counsel | Corporate Governance Professionals | Directors and Officers (D&O) | Litigators specializing in corporate governance and D&O cases | Financial Advisors specializing in distressed situations and workouts | CROs
Learning Objectives:
- Gain a comprehensive understanding of the Business Judgment Rule and its importance in corporate governance.
- Analyze major legal cases and their impact on the application of the BJR.
- Develop strategies for defending and pursuing litigation involving directors and officers.
- Learn proactive strategies for advising directors and officers to minimize the risk of personal liability and litigation.
- Understand the importance of independent board directors in mitigating risks for directors and officers.
Business
Suggested Speakers
This session will review the issues associated with the restructuring of cross-border cannabis entities through state-level remedies such as receiverships and assignments for the benefit of creditors. Relying on recent case studies, the panel will explore the impact of state-level regulatory regimes and other factors on the selection of remedy.
Participants will leave the session with an understanding of (a) state-level remedies available to assist distressed cannabis companies and (b) how to evaluate the utility of each given the regulatory regimes in the jurisdictions where the company operates.
Debtor
Richard
Williams
rwilliams@brileyfin.com
B. Riley Advisory Services
This session will introduce participants to the very hiogh likelihood that digital assets could be a part of a bankruptcy estate given the rapid growth in the use of digital assets to transact business and in the number of people in the United States that own digital assets. Participants will be made aware of the resources, tools, and professional services available to locate, track, quantify, value and recover digital assets for the bankruptcy estate.
1. Participants will gain a working understanding of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and other digital assets and their rapid adoption by individuals and businesses.
2. Participants will learn to identify signs that a party may possess digital assets and will be familiar with the resources available to aid in discovering and identifying digital asset ownership.
3. Participants will learn about the techniques and tools available to trace and recover digital asset transactions.
4. Participants will learn the basic issues and challenges in valuing digital assets.
Creditor
Discussion on the developments of Venezuela's indefinitely postponed external debt restructuring process and the individual execution efforts over the country’s most valuable assets in the US—CITGO’s network of downstream assets—in the context of the Crystallex litigation in Delaware. The session would highlight the tension between “first come / first served” principles guiding the current stream of individual enforcement / execution, and the creditor coordination features of a pure insolvency proceeding.
The session will provide clarity on the status of the ongoing melee of court cases going after Venezuela's assets abroad, in the zoom-out context of the prospects for a broad, all-encompassing, debt restructuring process
Creditor
Suggested Speakers
Roland
Pettersson
rpettersson@dra.com.ve
Suzzanne
Uhland
Suzzanne.Uhland@lw.com
Richard
Levin
RLevin@jenner.com
Hans
Humes
HHumes@greylockcapital.com
Roland
Pettersson
rpettersson@dra.com.ve
D'Empaire
Note to Committee
Beverly Berneman, Frank Oswald, and I (Summer Chandler) are working on the second edition of the ABI book, Choppy Waters: Navigating the Intersection of Bankruptcy and Intellectual Property. It should be ready to go to print by the end of this year. We would like very much to have the opportunity to present at the Spring Meeting on some of the issues we will be discussing in the book and that we have encountered in our practices or other work. Thank you for considering our proposal.
Panel Description:
Intellectual property is often critical to the financial stability and well-being of a company. When a debtor enters bankruptcy, the Bankruptcy Code contains several provisions that impact rights held by the debtor, or others, in intellectual property owned or used by the debtor. Given the important role that intellectual property often plays in the life of a business, disputes pertaining to intellectual property frequently surface in the context of the debtor's bankruptcy case. Unfortunately, significant uncertainty continues to surround many of the issues that exist at the intersection of bankruptcy law and intellectual property law.
This panel will explore the complex intersection of intellectual property and bankruptcy law, focusing on the important and unique challenges and opportunities that can arise when intellectual property rights are at issue in bankruptcy proceedings. The topics discussed will include, among others: the effect of the rejection of an intellectual property license agreement, the effect of the sale of a debtor’s intellectual property on the rights of non-debtor licensees, and the assignability of intellectual property license agreements (either standalone agreements or agreements contained within a more comprehensive agreement – such as a franchise agreement). Panelists will discuss and analyze several important and interesting disputes, including, among others, the tortured bankruptcy history of 2 Live Crew/Luther Campbell and Lil’ Joe Records.
By the conclusion of the program, attendees should: (1) understand the legal framework governing the treatment of intellectual property assets in bankruptcy; (2) recognize risks and challenges related to intellectual property in bankruptcy, and (3) be able to assess the potential impact of bankruptcy on ongoing and future intellectual property transactions.
Business
The prevalence of liability management exercises (LMEs) continues to grow as companies seek creative solutions to manage unsustainable capital structures. Majority creditor groups have a long list of options to choose from in order to put themselves in front of minority creditors – priming, uptiering, covenant stripping, drop-down transactions and more. But the track record for so-called lender-on-lender violence has been patchy at best, often serving as a precursor to bankruptcy, rather than a way to avert it.
Potential discussion points:
1) What are some key takeaways from recent litigation, and what could have been done differently?
2) How can minority/nonparticipating lenders best protect themselves via creditor cooperation agreements?
3) What are the implications of these transactions on valuations?
4) How have these transactions evolved, and what does the future of lender-on-lender violence hold?
Attendees will gain an understanding of the current and future state of liability management exercises, including insights on litigation trends and updates on several recent key appeals.
Attendees will also learn about strategic approaches for creditors to effectively navigate these challenges and how lawyers can stay on top of these issues for their clients.
The session will provide projections for the distressed debt landscape in the upcoming year, equipping participants with knowledge to forecast opportunities that may arise.
Debtor
