Corporate Divorce – Preventing and Managing the Break-Up of a Business Partnership
Building and Exiting Business Partnerships
Navigating Corporate Divorce With Michael Einbinder
Episode 23: LLCs as They Approach the 50-Year Milestone: A Conversation with Professor Susan Pace Hamill
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Buy-Sell Agreements: A Conversation With Expert and Author Paul Hood
I Wish I Knew What I Know Now: Conversations with AGG on FDA Issues - Business Divorces in the Food and Supplements Space
Law Brief ®: Alan Gaynor and Richard Schoenstein Explore Business Divorce
Episode 8 | Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Navigating the Domestic Relations Arena
Episode 021: Member Liquidity, Default Rules, and the Corporate-ization of LLCs: A Conversation with Dean Donald J. Weidner
Episode 17: Arbitrating Deadlock: A Conversation with Arbitrator Erica Garay
Episode 015: Confessions of a Business Appraiser: A Conversation with Chris Mercer
Episode 014: Business Divorce Stories: Business Appraiser Tony Cotrupe and Attorney Jeff Eilender
As private companies grow, they need to secure capital to support their efforts to provide more (and/or better) products and services to their clients. The need for emerging companies to obtain growth capital often leads the...more
When a married couple enters into a divorce proceeding, they generally expect to end things in a final decree that fully divides all of their marital assets. But when they fully own or have a large interest in a closely held,...more
California Court Recognizes LLC Member Lists as Trade Secrets in Recent Ruling - When an LLC member suspects the company is playing favorites with redemption requests, how much access should they have to the membership rolls...more
In this episode, Kimberly Kamkar is joined by corporate law partners Patrick Richard, Anna Tang and Doug Schwartz to explore the complexities of business "break-ups." They discuss essential practices for future planning, the...more
Spring is soon upon us. March Madness is at our doorstep. The Formula 1 season is underway. Baseball season will be in full swing shortly. And my allergies are already in bloom....more
Not long ago, we wrote about the vital need for strict compliance with contractual options to buy or sell closely-held business equity interests. As we noted then, failure to strictly comply with any contractual conditions...more
Success is not just an elusive goal – it can also be difficult to maintain once achieved. For majority owners in private companies, achieving success is just the first hurdle, because once they arrive at this pinnacle, they...more
During Valentine’s Day month, we are taking a look at 50-50 owned private businesses. Forming a co-owned company may sound like a good idea on paper because the two partners are close friends or family members who are making...more
In recent years, the headlines have tracked the news of high-profile breakups among business partners in private companies. These business partner fallouts include: - 2023: Sam Altman was ousted as Open AI CEO (for...more
One of the first business divorce cases that I participated in as a young litigator was a lengthy arbitration over whether a minority shareholder was oppressed under BCL 1104-a. With those fond memories, evolution of the...more
Majority owners of private companies are empowered to exercise control over their businesses, but if they disregard the valid concerns of their minority partners, they may sow the seeds for a divisive business divorce in the...more
Business divorces take place in all types of private companies, including those owned and operated by family members. But families that are willing to engage in thoughtful planning can head off some of the internal conflicts...more
Fast-growing private companies are exciting to observe as outsiders, but on the inside the company founder has the challenge of securing enough capital to fuel the rapid growth of the business. The company’s continuous need...more
Private company owners strive for success but getting there is not an easy or straight path. I have been working closely with business owners now for more than 40 years, and I have been reflecting on the key character traits...more
The one who has the gold often makes all the rules, but the majority owner of a private company who has minority partners in the business does not have complete freedom, because majority owners owe duties that apply to their...more
In my experience, most operating agreements of New York LLCs include a provision barring amendments unless made in writing and executed by all members. Such provisions are especially prevalent with smaller, member-managed...more
When a minority shareholder petitions for dissolution of a corporation on the grounds of oppressive or illegal conduct (see BCL 1104-a), Section 1118 of New York’s Business Corporation Law allows the corporation or any other...more
Husband owns 99% membership of manager-managed LLC. Children own remaining 1%. Postnuptial agreement says husband’s “interest” in LLC goes to wife. LLC agreement says any transferee is not admitted as a member absent the...more
In 1941, two of the three shareholders of Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc. entered into an agreement stating that they would vote their combined 630 of the outstanding 1000 shares of Ringling Bros. stock...more
The American Law Institute recently announced its plans to draft a Restatement of the Law of Corporate Governance. (https://www.ali.org/projects/show/corporate-governance/#_participants). This is ALI’s second attempt at such...more
Following a challenging year for business owners, the time to decompress and celebrate with family and friends this holiday season provided a necessary respite. When business resumes, however, there are important action items...more
Longtime readers of this blog may recall a post I wrote three years ago titled Minority Shareholder Oppression in the #MeToo Era. The post highlighted an apparent first-of-its-kind decision in a judicial dissolution case...more
The seven-year anniversary of the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Ritchie v. Rupee has come and gone, and the court’s holding from 2014 remains the law: Minority shareholders in Texas private companies do not have a cause...more
The National Rifle Association has long been a politically charged topic for its fans and critics. For those of you more interested in the politics of the NRA’s ongoing battle with New York’s Attorney General Letitia James,...more
For owners of closely-held businesses, there are few provisions meriting more attention in an owners’ agreement than the buy-sell agreement. Buy-sell agreements come in many different forms, and the best ones are designed to...more