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Rael v. Page

In this shareholder class and derivative action, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP attorneys obtained an appellate decision reversing the trial court’s dismissal of the complaint alleging serious director misconduct in connection with the merger of SunCal Companies and Westland Development Co., Inc., a New Mexico company with large and historic landholdings and other assets in the Albuquerque area. The appellate court held that plaintiff’s claims for breach of fiduciary duty were direct, not derivative, because they constituted an attack on the validity or fairness of the merger and the conduct of the directors. Although New Mexico law had not addressed this question directly, at the urging of the Firm’s attorneys, the court relied on Delaware law for guidance, rejecting the “special injury” test for determining the direct versus derivative inquiry and instead applying more recent Delaware case law. 

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