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Derivative Suit Fiduciary Duty Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Fox Rothschild LLP

A(nother) Cautionary Tale on the Importance of Operating Agreements

Fox Rothschild LLP on

To practitioners familiar with internal disputes involving closely held companies, the allegations in Lafayette Village Pub, LLC v. Burnham, 2025 NCBC 8, are nothing new. The member running the business (allegedly) made bad,...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

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

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Pleading-Stage Arguments for Dismissal in LLC Dispute

Morris James LLP on

Principal Growth Strategies LLC v. AGH Parent LLC, C.A. 2019-0431-JTL (Del. Ch. January 25, 2023) - This decision provides helpful guidance to practitioners to address pleading-stage arguments for dismissal. The plaintiff...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Winter Case Notes: Punitive Damages Awarded for Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Other Recent Decisions of Interest

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Notwithstanding that the pictured snow globe is the only snow I’ve seen in my neck of the woods this balmy winter, I’m pleased to present my annual Winter Case Notes collection of recent court decisions of interest....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

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.

Gordon Ramsay’s The Fat Cow: Dishing Up Damages and Dissolution

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

You know you’re in big trouble if the post-trial decision in a lawsuit you filed begins like this: “The court finds the plaintiff, Rowen Seibel, not credible. This is primarily because it appears he fabricated evidence...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Portrait of a Mangled Business Divorce

Business divorce can be messy, as reflected by many of the cases covered here at The LLC Jungle. Two issues that frequently arise during the dissolution of an LLC are: 1. the statutory buyout procedure, and 2. claims for...more

Morris James LLP

The Court of Chancery Provides Guidance on Whether Deprivation of an LLC Member’s Contractual Right to Vote Provides a Direct or...

Morris James LLP on

The derivative suit concept so familiar in the corporate context has been grafted onto the limited liability form. The contractual nature of limited liability companies and their often closely-held membership can pose...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Holds Number of Members in LLC Does Not Determine Whether Claims Are Direct or Derivative

In Clifford Paper, Inc. v. WPP Investors, LLC, et al., C.A. No. 2020-0448-JRS (Del. Ch. June 1, 2021), the Delaware Court of Chancery held that plaintiff Clifford Paper, Inc.’s (“CPI”) asserted derivative (as opposed to...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

“Intentional” Breach of Fiduciary Duty Defeats Operating Agreement’s Exculpatory Clause

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Last week, Peter Mahler blogged about a recent decision holding that a minority shareholder’s claim against its majority co-owners for breach of fiduciary duty in connection with a sale of the business to a third party...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

LLC Derivative Claims — Sometimes It’s “Now or Never”

One substantial LLC membership right in California (and most other states) is the ability of members to file a “derivative” lawsuit. If the LLC has suffered harm, but the LLC fails to sue (due to managerial inaction,...more

Winstead PC

Court Held That Manager Owed Limited Liability Company Fiduciary Duties And That A Derivative Action Could Still Be Pursued After...

Winstead PC on

In Katz v. Intel Pharma, LLC, a minority member of a limited liability company sued a former manager for breach of fiduciary duty in a derivative action. No. H-18-1347, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 120389 (S.D. Tex. July 9, 2020)....more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Trio of Recent Business Divorce Decisions by Manhattan Commercial Division Judges

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

The COVID-19 pandemic kept New York’s courthouses dark the last few months, but it didn’t slow down the output of decisions by Commercial Division judges. If anything, the pause of new case filings and non-emergency motions...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Death of Limited Partner Disarms Derivative Action

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

I’ve yet to see him make a court appearance, and hope I never do, but the Grim Reaper sure has a knack for disrupting business divorce litigation involving LLCs and limited partnerships....more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Commercial Division Closes Door to Derivative Claims on Behalf of Cancelled LLC

The Commercial Division recently ruled, in a case captioned as Hopkins v. Ackerman, that derivative claims on behalf of an LLC need to be brought before the LLC ceases to exist. ...more

Cole Schotz

Derivative Standing When Debtors Are Limited Partnerships And Limited Liability Companies

Cole Schotz on

It is well settled that creditors of an insolvent corporation can obtain derivative standing to pursue claims for breach of fiduciary duty against officers and directors. The same principle, however, does not always apply for...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Top Ten Business Divorce Cases of 2018

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

I’m very pleased to present my 11th annual list of this past year’s ten most significant business divorce cases. This year’s list includes four important appellate decisions, including one likely to stand as a landmark...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Operating Agreement Defeats Statutory Buyout Rights Upon LLC Member’s Withdrawal

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

When the tsunami of LLC enabling statutes swept the U.S. in the late ’80s and early ’90s, including New York in 1994, many included a default rule authorizing as-of-right member withdrawal and payment for the “fair value” of...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

LLC’s Purpose Being Achieved? Business Doing Fine? Good Luck Getting Judicial Dissolution

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

New York’s LLC judicial dissolution statute, Section 702 of the Limited Liability Company Law, provides far more limited grounds to dissolve a business than the Business Corporation Law – a harsh reality for allegedly...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

“Food Fight” Sequel Ends Badly for Ousted Sibling

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

A little over three years ago I reported on the first round of a fascinating “food fight” among four siblings, each of whom is a 25% shareholder of a Brooklyn-based, second-generation food distributor known as Jersey Lynne...more

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