A Directors' Consent in Lieu of Meeting is a written consent for a corporation's specific action without having to arrange a board meeting. If they have previously agreed on passing a particular resolution, then using a written consent is a simple shortcut serving this purpose.
In lieu of is a preposition that means instead of or in place of. It is often used to describe a substitution or replacement for something else. For example, if someone is unable to attend an event, they might send a gift in lieu of their attendance.
A Shareholders' Consent to Action Without Meeting, or a consent resolution, is a written statement that describes and validates a course of action taken by the shareholders of a particular corporation without a meeting having to take place between directors and/or shareholders.
A Stockholder Consent is the authorization of stockholders to carry out a specific corporate action. For example, a Stockholder Consent is used to elect or remove a member of the Board of Directors, approve a merger, and implement a Stock Incentive Plan (SIP).
“Written Consent in Lieu of Meeting” is a legal mechanism that allows the board of directors, shareholders, or members of an organization to make a decision or approve a resolution without actually convening a physical or virtual meeting.
Shareholder action taken by written consent is universally recognized as a valid approval by shareholders and this is expressly confirmed by California statute. The 10-day waiting period acts to delay the effectiveness of the action, which hinders a corporation's ability to act with speed and efficiency when necessary.
A common example of a UWC is a Unanimous Written Consent in Lieu of an Organizational Meeting, which is used to approve an entity's bylaws or Operating/Company Agreement, and other things requiring unanimous consent, without a formal meeting.
It is used to expedite the decision-making process by eliminating the need for a vote when it's highly likely that everyone agrees on a particular issue. Unanimous written consent can be helpful when boards need to make a quick decision on routine procedural issues or non-controversial vendor contracts.