In one of the first major tests to the exclusive forum provisions, the Delaware Court of Chancery upheld the right of a North Carolina bank to have all corporate litigation decided by its home state’s federal court. The Chancery Court held the bylaw is valid and the plaintiff could not prove the bank’s board breached its fiduciary duties by adopting the bylaw.
First Citizens BancShares Inc., a corporate holding company for First Citizens Bank, adopted a forum selection bylaw similar to the ones contested in Boilermakers Local 154 Retirement Fund v. Chevron and IClub Investment Partnership v. FedEx. In Chevron and FedEx, two consolidated cases decided last year by the Chancery Court, the court upheld both corporations’ right to have corporate litigation resolved in Delaware.
