Corporate Law : Fiduciary Duty – Derivative Claim – Merger

Where a shareholder who sought damages allegedly resulting from a corporate merger brought claims including breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment against corporate officers and directors, the dismissal of the claims is affirmed because the claims were derivative since the diminished corporate value was a corporate injury.

Judgment is affirmed.

Nickell v. Shanahan (MLW No. 66730/Case No. SC93719 – 9 pages) (Supreme Court of Missouri, Teitelman, J.; Russell, C.J., Fischer, Stith, Draper and Wilson, JJ., and Luber, Sp.J., concur. Breckenridge, J., not participating) Appealed from circuit court, St. Louis City, Moriarty, J. (Francis A. Bottini Jr. LaJolla, California; Timothy J. Becker and Tim E. Dollar, Kansas City, Missouri; Richard B. Hein, for appellant) (Lisa A. Pake, Robert T. Haar and Michael A. Brockland, St. Louis; James G. Martin, Edward L. Dowd Jr., James F. Bennett, John D. Comerford and Erika M. Anderson, St. Louis; Erwin O. Switzer III, Richard E. Greenberg, Wendy S. Menghini and Michael A.T. Schwalbert; St. Louis; Jim J. Shoemake, St. Louis; Eric M. Walter, E. Calvin Matthews IV, Jeffrey T. McPherson and F. Scott Galt, St. Louis; Robert Schultz and Ronald J. Eisenberg, Chesterfield; Barry A. Short, Evan Z. Reid and Steven D. Hall, St. Louis; David von Gontard and Howard A. Wittner, St. Louis; Jack B. Spooner, St. Louis; Thomas W. Wack, St. Louis, for respondents).

Read the full text of this opinion. (PDF)