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Limited Liability Company (LLC) Fiduciary Duty Operating Agreements

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth

California Business Divorce: You Might Have to Get a Business Divorce in Delaware Without a Jury

If your company documents require disputes to be litigated in the Delaware Court of Chancery, you may have to resolve your business divorce without a jury trial, even if California law would otherwise guarantee one....more

Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP

When To Seek Judicial Dissolution For Your Restaurant Business

Running a restaurant with business partners can be a rewarding venture, but partnerships don’t always go as planned. Disagreements, financial troubles, and breaches of fiduciary duty can create conflicts so severe that...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Nevada Court Finds Business Judgment Rule Applies to Nevada LLCs

Paul Hastings LLP on

The Nevada District Court recently clarified that the business judgment rule — a fundamental corporate law protection — applies to limited liability companies when their operating agreements specify fiduciary duties. The...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Summer Shorts: A Trio of Recent Decisions of Interest in LLC Member Disputes

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Welcome to this 15th annual edition of Summer Shorts. This year’s edition features brief commentary on a trio of recent decisions by New York courts in business divorce cases, all involving LLCs, including: A relatively...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Another LLC Attorney Disqualified Due to “Conflict of Authority”

A prior LLC Jungle post covered the Court of Appeal’s seminal opinion in the Jarvis v. Jarvis case here: Why Having “Co-Managers” for Your LLC is a Terrible Idea. In the Jarvis case, the Court of Appeal affirmed the...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Humble LLC Exculpation Clause Wins Big: Member/CEO Escapes $8M Fiduciary Claims

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

It’s difficult to assess the potency of section 417(a) of New York’s LLC law.  The provision starts off with a seemingly broad rule: “The operating agreement may set forth a provision eliminating or limiting the personal...more

ArentFox Schiff

How Boilerplate Agreement Advancement Clauses Can Transform Ownership Disputes

ArentFox Schiff on

Indemnification and advancement clauses are often seen as mere boilerplate language in a company’s governing documents, routinely copied from one form agreement to another. However, advancement clauses may be important...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Demand Futility, Dissolution, and Transfer Restrictions: Spring Blooms Fresh Developments in LLC Litigation

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

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

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

Allen Matkins

Delaware LLCs - "I See Trouble On the Way"

Allen Matkins on

Delaware had barely birthed changes to Section 144 of its General Corporation Law when the Plumbers & Fitters Local 295 Pension Fund filed a complaint challenging those changes.  The plaintiff seeks a declaration that the...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

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

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.

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

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Operating Agreement Doesn’t Excuse Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Many posts on The LLC Jungle blog have focused on the fiduciary duties owed by LLC managers to both the LLC’s members and the LLC itself. Other posts have focused on the pitfalls of LLC Operating Agreements that fail to...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

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

“Equitable Buyout” as a Remedy for LLC Wrongdoing?

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

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

LLC Operating Agreements: Indemnity, Arbitration, and Equity

LLC operating agreements frequently provide for indemnity to the LLC’s manager. This is consistent with the statutory default rule embodied by California Corporations Code section 17704.08(a), which provides for indemnity...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

What You Need to Know About Wisconsin's New LLC Laws

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On January 1, 2023, the revised Wisconsin business laws go into effect. Among the changes, is a complete overhaul of Chapter 183, leading to the creation of the Wisconsin Uniform Limited Liability Company Law (WULLCL). This...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Preparing for Wisconsin’s New Uniform Limited Liability Company Law

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Effective January 1, 2023, Wisconsin will have a new Uniform Limited Liability Company Law applicable to all Wisconsin limited liability companies (“LLCs”) unless existing LLCs opt out before December 31, 2022, with the...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Diversion of LLC Funds Is Not “Protected Activity” Under California’s Anti-SLAPP Statute

California’s anti-SLAPP statute (Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16) aims to protect defendants from meritless lawsuits designed to chill “protected activity” — i.e., the exercise of rights of petition or free speech on...more

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