Williams Mullen Mezzanine Lending Video Series - Episode 4
Episode 021: Member Liquidity, Default Rules, and the Corporate-ization of LLCs: A Conversation with Dean Donald J. Weidner
Welcome to WilmerHale’s bulletin on recent trade secret case law and relevant news items. This month’s cases address when a prevailing party on a trade secret misappropriation claim can receive attorney’s fees, the...more
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
It wasn’t long ago that my partner, Peter Sluka, posted about the Andris case where the Appellate Division, Second Department, reinstated an LLC judicial dissolution proceeding brought by the estate of a deceased member. ...more
In the world of business divorce litigation, this summer saw everything but a slowdown. We witnessed (and blogged about) Justice Crane cap a long-running fair value proceeding with helpful guidance on appraisals and...more
Folks who’ve been following this blog for years know that periodically I like to venture beyond New York’s borders to find and report on interesting decisions from other states in business divorce cases....more
Capital contributions by business owners are the lifeblood of any newly formed business entity. Typically the lifeblood consists of cash, but not always. In many instances the contribution may consist of tangible (e.g., real...more
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
Last month, in Flor v Greenberg Farrow Architectural Inc., a three-judge panel of the New Jersey Appellate Division handed down an opinion with important lessons for business owners and practitioners in states that have...more
The books and records demand often is the opening act in business divorce litigation. The relatively low burden that an owner must meet in order to obtain access to a company’s books and records, and the availability of an...more
In my experience, most operating agreements of New York LLCs include a provision barring amendments unless made in writing and executed by all members. Such provisions are especially prevalent with smaller, member-managed...more
Someday, perhaps, I’ll find the comedic inspiration to come up with a joke that begins, “An LLC, a partnership, and a close corporation walk into a bar . . ..” Until then, I’ll have to satisfy myself with writing about an...more
Over the past few years, the term “receipts” has entered the pop culture lexicon to mean something broader than its traditional definition of a document that acknowledges either the receiving of a product or service, or money...more
Folks hearing the phrase “business divorce” for the first time tend to focus unconsciously on the word “divorce,” tuning out the word “business.” The irony is that most business divorce cases have nothing to do with...more
I’m delighted to present our 15th annual list of the past year’s ten most significant business divorce cases. This year’s list includes decisions by New York’s trial and appellate courts concerning a smorgasbord of...more
The members of Nite Cap’s owner, Bull-Poet, LLC, recently traded the full sheets and gentle seas of the Hudson for the strum and drang of litigation in New York’s Supreme Court. But the squall has passed; thanks to New York...more
Let’s see how good you are at predicting the outcome and its rationale in a recently decided case involving the following facts: The controller of a Delaware LLC has supermajority voting rights under the initial LLC...more
New York’s default rules regarding LLC members’ rights to transfer their interests appear in sections 603 and 604 of the LLC Law. Section 603 provides that a membership interest is fully assignable, but the assignee does not...more
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
The New York Times yesterday published an article entitled Climate Change Enters the Therapy Room discussing persons suffering from “climate anxiety.” As a northeasterner, the frigid, snow-blessed, ground-freezing winter...more
“Except as provided in the operating agreement. . . ” - By my count, this phrase and its close relative, “unless otherwise provided in the operating agreement,” appear 59 times in New York’s LLC Law, most often to...more
For the second time in two years, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ventured into uncharted waters of LLC governance under the Revised Uniform LLC Act which, to date, has been adopted by 22 states and awaits legislative...more
Appearances can be deceiving. - That, essentially, was the argument made in two recently decided cases involving claims for judicial dissolution. ...more
The harried realities of modern life are such that business entity organizational documents, like LLC operating agreements, sometimes do not get drafted or executed until long after the entity’s initial formation with the...more
We often cover preliminary injunctions on the pages of this blog because they are a powerful tool in the business divorce litigator’s toolbox: they force court action early in the case, they can protect rights that are...more
Who says email is more efficient and cheaper than regular mail? - Not the manager of the McGuire family real estate business after winning a lower court ruling only to see it reversed on appeal last month in a decision...more