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For the Litigation column of Inside Counsel Magazine. Shareholders regularly bring suit in response to mergers and acquisitions. Many companies view it as a cost of doing business.

However, some companies have enacted “exclusive forum” bylaws requiring that such suits be filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, which is familiar with the reflexive nature of merger-related suits, and less likely than state courts to automatically award damages.illustration showing two lawyers reaching through bars of Delaware Chancery Court which looks like a cage, trying to reach pot of gold, not easy because exclusive forum bylaws require merger lawsuit to be tried in specific court which is less likely to automatically award damages to plaintiffs

detail image for illustration showing two lawyers reaching through bars of Delaware Chancery Court which looks like a cage, trying to reach pot of gold, not easy because exclusive forum bylaws require merger lawsuit to be tried in specific court which is less likely to automatically award damages to plaintiffs