Joel Friedlander: On the Evolution of Stockholder Litigation

Welcome to the Boardroom Governance Podcast. I’m your host, Evan Epstein. In this episode, I talk with Joel Friedlander, from Friedlander & Gorris, a litigation boutique focusing on corporate law litigation, alternative entity disputes, commercial litigation, and federal securities law cases in Delaware state and federal courts. Joel has over 25 years of experience litigating breach of fiduciary duty actions and contract disputes relating to the control of Delaware entities. Notable representations include obtaining the two largest cash settlements in the history of the Court of Chancery: $275 million, on behalf of Activision Blizzard, and $237.5 million on behalf of The Boeing Company. In this podcast, we talk about the evolution of stockholder litigation and its current role in corporate governance. We also discuss the evolution of Section 220 books and records demands, the concept of “Fraud on the Board”, and how director oversight duties have evolved, particularly post-Marchand and Boeing. We finally address litigation in private venture-backed companies, including the Good Technology case (that he litigated), and Silicon Valley cases generally. If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review or sharing this podcast on social media. You can find all the show notes on the website boardroom-governance.com and please feel free to subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com