Victory with Dismissal with Prejudice at Delaware Court of Chancery

Munger, Tolles & Olson obtained a dismissal with prejudice in the Delaware Court of Chancery for founder and former chief technology officer of Netsuite on Aug. 13, 2020.

Oracle chairman Larry Ellison was alleged to have engineered Oracle’s acquisition of software company Netsuite at an excessive price. Ellison, who had a large ownership of Netsuite, was enriched by several billion dollars in the acquisition. The case attracted widespread attention because of an unusual decision by a Special Litigation Committee of the Oracle Board to allow the plaintiff to pursue claims against Ellison and other Board members. 

Munger, Tolles & Olson’s client, the founder and chief technology officer of Netsuite, was accused of conspiring with Ellison to arrange the acquisition at an inflated price, thereby aiding and abetting Ellison’s breach of fiduciary duty to Oracle. 

The firm’s briefing proved powerful, as the Vice Chancellor issued a 45 page opinion in the Munger Tolles team’s favor and signed the order of dismissal with prejudice the very same day. The Munger Tolles team is now producing documents and preparing for their client’s deposition as a witness, and not as a defendant.

The Munger, Tolles & Olson team was led by John Spiegel who delivered oral arguments. The team included George Garvey who drafted the opening brief on the motion to dismiss, John Gildersleeve who drafted the brief on the reply; Ron Best and paralegal Raphael Sepulveda.