Sutherland v. Sutherland

Plaintiff sought attorneys’ fees and legal expenses from Defendants, two corporations and her two brothers, after successfully pursuing a books and records action under Del. Code Ann. tit. 8, 220 and after filing a complaint alleging derivative and double-derivative claims against Defendants. Although the Defendants substantially prevailed on Plaintiff’s derivative claims, Plaintiff sought attorneys’ fees and costs for her attorneys’ litigation efforts arising from the section 220 action and from overcoming a special litigation committee’s investigation and recommendation to terminate the litigation. Plaintiff sought approximately $1.4 million. In response, Defendants argued that Plaintiff achieved only minimal, therapeutic benefits and should only be awarded $25,000 for her litigation efforts. The Court of Chancery concluded that Plaintiff should be awarded attorneys’ fees and expenses of $275,000, as Plaintiff’s litigation efforts brought about some positive benefits for the companies involved, although those benefits were not as valuable as Plaintiff had argued. View "Sutherland v. Sutherland" on Justia Law