This Week in Chancery Court: Squarespace Records, Prince Estate

A dispute over the management of a company overseeing Prince’s assets and legacy continues this week in the Delaware Chancery Court.

Here are more highlights from this week’s court calendar:

Monday: Mich. Elec. Emp. Pension Fund v. Squarespace, Inc., Del. Ch., No. 2024-1041, bench ruling 6/9/25.

At issue: Senior Magistrate in Chancery Selena E. Molina will decide whether to order Squarespace Inc. to release CEO Anthony Casalena’s emails related to the website publishing company’s $7.2 billion sale to Permira Advisers LLC. A ruling was expected last week, but Molina rescheduled the hearing. The Michigan Electrical Employees’ Pension Fund took its books-and-records demand for the internal documents to trial May 29. The company said it produced over 5,000 pages of documents and it doesn’t need to add Casalena’s emails to them.

Court action: Molina will deliver her ruling via teleconference.

Squarespace’s $7 Billion Sale Draws Scrutiny From Pension Fund

Monday: McMillan v. Nelson, Del. Ch., No. 2024-0016, hearing 6/9/25.

At issue: Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick previously ruled that control of Prince Legacy LLC must remain with two of the late musician’s longtime friends, and not be transferred to Prince’s half-siblings who seek to oust the managers. Among multiple pending motions now before McCormick is the relatives’ request to stay the proceedings until parallel litigation brought by one of the managers in a Minnesota federal court is resolved.

Court action: The hearing will be held in Wilmington, Del.

Prince Siblings Lose Bid to Seize Estate Management Company (1)

Tuesday: Ayers v. Brigham, Del. Ch., No. 2024-0694, oral arguments 6/10/25.

At issue: Atlas Energy Solutions Inc.‘s founder and members of its board seek the dismissal of an investor’s lawsuit alleging they shortchanged public stockholders when they reorganized it from an Up-C into a traditional corporation. The investor didn’t make any books-and-records demand first, so the complaint fails to allege that special committee members who approved the reorganization violated their duty of care or loyalty and “simply second-guesses their weighing of the transaction’s pros and cons,” according to a brief filed by the defendants. The investor contends the special committee included friends of Atlas’s controlling stockholder, Texas oil tycoon Ben “Bud” Brigham, and they “deferred to management and management’s conflicted advisors and failed to negotiate on behalf of minority stockholders.”

Court action: Oral arguments will be held in Wilmington, Del.

Atlas Energy Solutions Reorganization Hit With Legal Challenge

Friday: Hightower v. Carlson, Del. Ch., No. 2023-0482, settlement hearing 6/13/25.

At issue: McCormick must give final approval to a proposed $4.6 million settlement to resolve a shareholder challenge to SharpSpring Inc.‘s $240 million sale to Constant Contact Inc. in 2021. With her sign-off, the accord also would end parallel investor litigation involving securities fraud claims in a Florida federal court. While McCormick ruled last year to allow the Delaware lawsuit to move forward, an appeal is pending in the Florida case, after a US district judge dismissed the case there. The lawsuits alleged SharpSpring’s CEO, CFO, and other board members prioritized transaction-related bonuses for top executives over maximizing the overall sale price. Shareholders said they didn’t know about those conflicts of interest when investors approved the acquisition of the sales automation platform.

Court action: The settlement hearing will be held in Wilmington, Del.

SharpSpring Settles Investor Suits Challenging $240 Million Sale