News & Analysis as of

Limited Liability Company (LLC) Breach of Contract Fiduciary Duty

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Capital Call Cancelled: A Fairness Defense to the Majority’s Mandatory Capital Call

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

There is perhaps no provision in an LLC operating agreement more susceptible to abuse than one allowing those in control of the LLC to make mandatory capital calls. For one, that authority often comes with very few...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Message of Acceptance from the Garden State

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

Morris James LLP

Chancery Rejects Attempt to Disguise Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim Where LLC Agreement Waived All Traditional Fiduciary Duties

Morris James LLP on

Delaware permits the elimination of fiduciary duties in limited liability company agreements. Notwithstanding, and just like in any other contract, parties to a limited liability company agreement are still subject to the...more

Jackson Walker

Business Court of Texas Rebuffs Member’s Duty Claim, Reaffirms Freedom of Contract in LLC Agreement

Jackson Walker on

A recent opinion from the Business Court of Texas, Eighth Division (Fort Worth), provides a crisp reminder that an LLC’s company agreement can all but eliminate fiduciary duties among its members and managers. In Tall v....more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Claims Relating to Sale of Company Against Private Equity Majority Owner

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

In the latest instance of a private equity seller vindicating contractual rights in the Delaware Court of Chancery, on April 30, Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will rejected attempts by minority LLC members in urgent care provider...more

Mayer Brown

Delaware Law Alert: Chancery Court Dismisses Challenge to Elimination of Tag-Along Rights in Private Equity-Backed Healthcare...

Mayer Brown on

A recent Delaware Chancery Court decision provides important guidance for private equity sponsors, minority investors, and deal professionals regarding the enforceability of contractual waivers and the limits of the implied...more

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Business Appraiser Liability? That’s a New One.

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

We’ve written about accountant liability. We’ve written about bookkeeper liability. A carefully crafted complaint can state viable claims for either. But business appraiser liability?...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

Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP

Handling Partner Expulsions in Restaurant Businesses: A Legal Guide

Partnership conflicts can arise in any restaurant business, and in some cases, the only solution is expelling a partner. However, removing a business partner is a complex legal process that must be handled carefully to avoid...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

LLC Member States Direct Claims Arising from Machiavellian Manager’s Tactical Bankruptcy Petition

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

“There is only going to be one winner here, and it’s not going to be you—give in while there is something still left in it for you,” said one LLC member to the other. With co-owners like that, who needs enemies?...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

JNOV is a Tough Road, but it’s Not a One in a Million Shot

Fox Rothschild LLP on

A party seeking to unseat a verdict by JNOV “bears a heavy burden under North Carolina law.” Only a “scintilla of evidence” is needed to support the elements of the prevailing claim. But as the Business Court reminded in...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Title (Coverage) Not Available

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

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Whether LLC Agreement Modified or Eliminated Fiduciary Duties

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In Re Cadira Group Holdings, LLC Litigation, Consolidated C.A. No. 2018-0616-JRS (Del. Ch. July 12, 2021) - The Delaware Limited Liability Company Act provides that “the fiduciary duties of a member, manager, or other...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Explains Pleading Standard and Sustains Unjust Enrichment Claim Related to Plaintiff’s Forfeiture of LLC Acquisition...

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Angel v. Warrior Met Coal, Inc., C.A. No. 2019-0235-SG (Del. Ch. Jun. 30, 2021) - Under Delaware’s notice pleading standard, a plaintiff’s claim will survive a motion to dismiss if it is “reasonably conceivable” that the...more

Morris James LLP

Chancery Addresses Claims Arising Out of LLC Dispute Involving Parallel Venture

Morris James LLP on

Largo Legacy Group, LLC v. Evens Charles, C.A. No. 2020-0105-MTZ (Del. Ch. June 30, 2021) - In this LLC dispute, an investor in a hotel development company alleged that the company principals breached the operating...more

Morris James LLP

Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing Saves Employee’s Claim for Improper Termination Under Company’s LLC Agreement

Morris James LLP on

Smith v. Scott, C.A. No. 2020-0263-JRS (Del. Ch. Apr. 23, 2021) - The Delaware LLC Act provides that fiduciary duties may be expanded or limited by the provisions of an LLC agreement. If the agreement is silent, then...more

Roetzel & Andress

Roetzel & Andress: 2020 Appellate Year In Review

Roetzel & Andress on

The Appellate Law Practice Group of Roetzel & Andress represented clients in a wide variety of cases in both state and federal courts, appealing adverse trial court rulings and successfully defending lower court victories on...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

First Department Holds That “Sole and Absolute Discretion” Clause Does Not Preclude Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim

In Shatz v. Chertok, the First Department affirmed in part and reversed in part a decision by Justice Jennifer G. Schechter of the Commercial Division. The key issue on appeal was whether a New York limited liability...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

K&L Gates LLP

Chancery Court Grants Defendant’s Motion On The Pleadings Where Named Defendants Did Not Owe Any Of The Contractual Or Fiduciary...

K&L Gates LLP on

In Ross v. Institutional Longevity Assets LLC, C.A. No. 2017-0186-TMR (Del. Ch. Feb. 26, 2019), the Chancery Court, in a motion for judgement on the pleadings, found that the plain language of a limited liability company’s...more

Morris James LLP

Self-Dealing Conduct Supporting Fiduciary-Duty Claims Was Covered by Contractual Duties Imposed in the LLC Agreement

Morris James LLP on

The Delaware Limited Liability Company Act’s policy is to give the maximum effect to the principle of freedom of contract in LLC operating agreements. The act permits parties to eliminate common-law fiduciary duties, and...more

Morris James LLP

Court Of Chancery Applies LLC Contractual Fiduciary Duty

Morris James LLP on

MHS Capital LLC v. Goggin, C.A. No. 2017-0449-SG (May 10, 2018) - Alternative entity agreements may eliminate common law fiduciary duties and often do, supplanting them with contractual fiduciary duties....more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Contracting Party Beware: The Implied Covenant Will Not Save You From Your Agreement If You Negotiated Away Your Rights

On February 1, 2018, the Delaware Court of Chancery granted defendants’ motion to dismiss an action brought by minority unitholders of Trumpet Search, LLC (“Trumpet” or the “Company”). The defendants were other unitholders...more

Allen Matkins

Court Rules LLC Members May Be “Fiduciaries In Fact”

Allen Matkins on

U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell’s ruling in Strong v. Cochran, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170073, is a reminder that sometimes what you do matters more than what you say. The case involved claims by the liquidating...more

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