Nonprofit Basics: How To Wind up a California Charity
Episode 8 | Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Navigating the Domestic Relations Arena
Episode 013: Interview with Justice Carolyn E. Demarest (Ret.) on Business Divorce Litigation
What is a petition for dissolution of marriage and what does it mean to serve the petition?
We often remark anecdotally that disputes over ownership status—whether one is or is not an owner—seem far more common in the context of LLCs than corporations. The contrast between the often-permissive structure of the...more
Partnership disputes are common in the restaurant industry, where high-stress environments, financial pressures, and differing business visions can create tension between partners. If not handled properly, these disputes can...more
Problems with a partner? You’re not alone. Our law firm routinely fields calls from business owners seeking to remove a partner who is inactive, engaging in unethical or illegal behavior, or otherwise disrupting operations....more
Running a restaurant requires a delicate balance of creativity, management, and financial responsibility. When partners share ownership of a restaurant, each has a fiduciary duty to act in the business’s best financial...more
Shareholder oppression has long been a favorite topic of mine—for good reason. A cornerstone of business divorce litigation, a claim of minority shareholder oppression under BCL 1104-a often invites creative argument over...more
This week’s New York Business Divorce takes us to the Garden State for a delightfully-written, post-trial decision by retired, recalled Appellate Division Judge Clarkson S. Fisher, Jr....more
In addition to blooming trees and longer days, spring in New York has ushered in a fresh crop of noteworthy decisions on intra-LLC disputes. Headliners include a boost to members’ rights to compel an accounting courtesy of...more
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
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
We frequently see a partner’s “fiduciary duties” expressed as the union of the duty of loyalty and the duty of care. The duty of loyalty requires fiduciaries to avoid elevating the interests of any other person or entity...more
The shareholder oppression claim under BCL 1104-a has a unique relationship with claims for money damages. A minority shareholder petitioning for dissolution under BCL 1104-a must establish that the majority shareholders...more
In the world of LLCs, buyouts — where one member sells his/her membership interest to another member or the LLC itself — are commonplace. Buyouts generally fall into one of two categories: contractual — where the...more
No corporate lawyer wants to get drawn into a nasty litigation between an entity’s owners. But the reality is that corporate and general counsel often find themselves unwittingly ensnared in business divorce cases. Sometimes...more
Two recent decisions concerning title insurance illustrate that an insured’s negligence can result in an exclusion from coverage and that title insurers generally do not owe a fiduciary duty to their insureds....more
BET FRX LLC v. Myers, C.A. No. 2019-0894-KSJM (Del. Ch. Apr. 27, 2022) - A minority member of a limited liability company had invested $8 million in the LLC. The LLC owned a majority interest in an entity that held a...more
Two years ago, Peter Mahler wrote about a dissolution lawsuit by a female minority shareholder alleging that her male co-shareholders condoned a pattern of sexually offensive and demeaning conduct by a senior co-worker, which...more
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
Of late I’ve been ruminating on New York’s membership in the shrinking pool of states that don’t recognize oppression of an LLC minority member by the controlling members or managers as ground for judicial dissolution....more
Mehra v. Teller, C.A. No. 2019-0812-KSJM (Del. Ch. Jan. 29, 2021) - In a dispute over the validity of the dissolution of a limited liability company, the Court of Chancery held in a post-trial opinion that a deadlock...more
There’s tremendous diversity from state-to-state when it comes to statutory and judge-made law in business divorce cases. The basic fact patterns one sees in cases from across the country, however, don’t vary nearly as much....more
The ongoing coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic has quite literally impacted everyone and everything in New York, including the courts, which were forced to temporarily cease non-essential functions. The result was a short-lived...more
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
Not for the first time, I find myself intrigued by the federal courts’ resistance to hearing state law claims for judicial dissolution of business entities where subject matter jurisdiction otherwise exists based on diversity...more
GMF ELCM Fund L.P. v. ELCM HCRE GP LLC, C.A. No. 2018-0840-SG (Del. Ch. Aug. 7, 2019). The equitable remedy of dissolution is extraordinary. Given the extraordinary record before it, and the abundance of evidence that the...more
It’s that time of year again, when I offer some lighter fare for poolside consumption consisting of summaries of a few recent decisions of interest involving disputes between business co-owners....more