News & Analysis as of

Business Litigation Breach of Duty Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Bless This Mess: New York Court Shuts Down Attempted Early Ouster of Restauranteur From Managing His Own Restaurant

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

It is not uncommon in the restaurant business for a restauranteur to partner with a silent-partner investor, i.e. the money guy. It’s not uncommon for the restaurant partners to fight over the control of the restaurant....more

DarrowEverett LLP

Fiduciary Duties and Remedies in Florida LLCs: What Members Need to Know

DarrowEverett LLP on

Disputes among members of a limited liability company (LLC) are inevitable. Unlike casual disagreements with friends or roommates, conflicts within an LLC can have legal and financial consequences. Recognizing this reality,...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

LLCs Can Assert Offensive Claims Against Members

In “business divorce” litigation involving LLCs, it is common to see a disgruntled LLC member asserting claims against the LLC’s manager. Depending on the type of harm alleged, those claims might be asserted directly (by the...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Finds Merger Validly Amended LLC Agreement and Effectively Removed the LLC’s Manager

Morris James LLP on

Campus Eye Management Holdings LLC v. DiDonato, C.A. No. 2024-0121-LWW (Del. Ch. Aug. 30, 2024) - This case arose out of a dispute between an optometrist who sold a majority stake in his company to a private equity buyer,...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Holds Defendant Breached Fiduciary Duties by Failing to Distribute Assets Equally During Dissolution of LLC

Morris James LLP on

Mehra v. Teller, C.A. No. 2019-0812-KSJM (Del. Ch. Sept. 20, 2024) - In this post-trial decision, the plaintiffs claimed that one of the defendants breached his fiduciary duties by failing to distribute assets equally at...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

A Corporate “One Man Band” Might be a Lonely Road, but the Company is Not Always a Puppet

Fox Rothschild LLP on

Matthew Bagley worked for a claims adjustment firm in Louisiana as its claims manager for nearly three years before resigning to, allegedly, improperly compete against his former employer, M.D. Claims Group. In M.D. Claims...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Help Comes From an Unexpected Place in LLC Deadlock Dissolution: The Third Department

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Join me if you know this refrain: In New York, deadlock is not an independent ground for LLC dissolution. But… Almost exactly two years ago from today, Peter Mahler published a post titled: “Has the Time Come for...more

DarrowEverett LLP

LLC's Failure to Execute Operating Agreement Opens Legal Trapdoor

DarrowEverett LLP on

While entity distinctness is a bedrock principle of corporate law, it may often appear redundant and unnecessary for a limited liability company (“LLC”) to sign its own operating agreement. That was likely the thinking of the...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Top 10 Business Divorce Cases of 2024

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Welcome to our 17th annual edition of the Top 10 business divorce cases featured on this blog over the past year. This year’s selections buck the trend of previous years in which cases involving limited liability...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Diving Into the Shallow Waters of New York Law Permitting Elimination of LLC Managers' Liability for Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

There’s a ton of Delaware caselaw enforcing Section 18-1101 (c) of that state’s LLC Act as amended in 2004, authorizing LLC agreements to eliminate the members’ and managers’ liability for breach of fiduciary duty, the only...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Diving Into the Shallow Waters of New York Law Permitting Elimination of LLC Managers’ Liability for Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

There’s a ton of Delaware caselaw enforcing Section 18-1101 (c) of that state’s LLC Act as amended in 2004, authorizing LLC agreements to eliminate the members’ and managers’ liability for breach of fiduciary duty, the only...more

Allen Matkins

Court Finds Usurpation Of LLC Opportunity To Be Derivative

Allen Matkins on

My last few posts have been devoted to the Court of Appeal's opinion in Tuli v. Specialty Surgical Center of Thousand Oaks, LLC, 2024 WL 4499271 (Oct. 16, 2024).  The case relates to the plaintiff's "decade-long litigation...more

Allen Matkins

Does Personal Animosity Vitiate The Business Judgment Rule?

Allen Matkins on

Under the business judgment rule, "a director is not liable for a mistaken business judgment which is made in good faith and in what he or she believes to be in the best interest of the corporation, where no conflict of...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Limo Company Shareholders Can't Hitch a Ride in Derivative Litigation

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Closely-held business entities come in all shapes and sizes. By definition, under Partnership Law § 10, it takes “two or more” owners to form a general partnership. But corporations and LLCs have no such impediment, ranging...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Parallel Business and Matrimonial Divorce Proceedings

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Parallel business divorce proceedings in the same or different courts alleging overlapping or duplicative claims are common. When it occurs, judges must often determine whether to dispose of one so the other may proceed...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Top 10 Business Divorce Cases of 2023

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Some years are easier than others to select the most significant business divorce cases. In this, the 16th year I’ve published this top-10 list, the task is made especially difficult by a veritable flood of court decisions...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Surrogate’s Court Jurisdiction to Resolve Close Business Owner Disputes

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Do New York’s Surrogate’s Courts have jurisdiction to compel an accounting related to a non-party limited liability company in which the decedent’s estate has only a minority interest? ...more

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth

California Business Divorce: Corporate Opportunity Usurpation and Best Practices to Avoid it in Your California LLC

Going into business with someone requires a high level of trust. For a business to thrive, business partners must be loyal to the business and each other. As in a marriage, when a partner in a business is disloyal, things...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Recurring Business Divorce Feature: Usurpation of Corporate Opportunity

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

One of the earliest signs that a closely-held business is headed for divorce lies in how its owners treat new opportunities. When the relationship among the owners reaches a certain level of distrust, an owner presented with...more

Hicks Johnson

The Importance of “Plain and Unambiguous Language” When Eliminating Fiduciary Duties in Delaware

Hicks Johnson on

The Delaware Limited Liability Company Act allows for the fiduciary duties of a member to be expanded, restricted, or eliminated by provisions in the operating agreement of a limited liability company (“LLC”). If drafters...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Business Divorce, Brooklyn Style

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

The pictured architectural rendering of the sunlit Kings County Supreme Courthouse at 360 Adams Street, completed in 1957, doesn’t quite capture the reality of its dour, hulking presence in downtown Brooklyn. Its design...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Derivative Claim Standing: Both Contemporaneous And Continuous Membership Required

When an LLC suffers primary harm that also indirectly harms the LLC’s members, the cause of action generally belongs to the LLC, not its members. Only if the LLC (through its duly authorized management) fails to pursue the...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Loan Is a Loan Is a Loan, Except When It’s Equity

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Disputes over capital accounts and equity percentages are frequent fodder for business divorce litigation — especially in LLCs without operating agreements. Exemplars previously treated on this blog include Chiu v Chiu, an...more

Hicks Johnson

Exculpation Provisions in LLC Agreements: A Comparison of Delaware and Texas

Hicks Johnson on

Case law involving limited liability companies (LLCs) is rapidly evolving. Some states, most notably Delaware, permit LLCs to limit or eliminate liability for breaches of fiduciary duty by an LLC’s members or managers. Other...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Top 10 Business Divorce Cases of 2021

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

It’s been another year of important case law developments in business divorce controversies. I’m pleased to present my 14th annual list of the past year’s ten most significant cases....more

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