It’s a natural human phenomenon. After a period of intense activity, it’s perfectly understandable to relax, take a step back and catch one’s breath. M&A deals are no different. The push to get a deal signed is often marked by long days and, sometimes, long nights for all involved. Once the deal is signed, it’s natural for the deal teams, for management, for the respective boards of directors, to go home, get a bit of sleep and go into “execution mode.” “Let’s get this closed,” they say.

But in the current environment—marked by significant volatility and radical shifts in the prospects for one or both merger parties or the combined company—that sentiment can lead to the wrong result for stockholders as circumstances change post-signing. Where a stockholder vote is required for a transaction (on either the buy-side or the target side) and has not yet been obtained and therefore the recommendation and disclosures by the board to its stockholders remain in the spotlight, the board needs to remain especially vigilant and active.

The potential has never been higher for new circumstances to arise that potentially alter the assessment of whether a transaction is still in the best interests of the stockholders that will be voting on that transaction. Directors need to remember their continuing duty to stockholders to consider this issue in the run-up to the stockholder vote.

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