Crandon Capital Partners v. Shelk

This shareholder derivative action requires us to decide whether plaintiffs’ claim for attorney fees remains jus-ticiable after defendants took actions that rendered the underlying substantive claims moot. For the reasons that follow, we answer that question in the affirmative.

Plaintiffs were shareholders of Willamette Industries, Inc. They filed separate actions against certain of Willamette’s officers and directors seeking to remove corporate takeover defenses that Willamette had adopted and to force defendants to negotiate with Weyerhaeuser Co., which had made an offer to acquire…