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Business Disputes Closely Held Businesses

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Conditional Grants of Membership Interests Are a Roadway to Courtroom Conflict

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Ambiguous Agreement, Clear Consequences

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

This first post of 2024 brings the New York Business Divorce Blog into its eighteenth calendar year of weekly commentary on disputes among co-owners of closely held businesses. This year, let business owners and their...more

DarrowEverett LLP

Buyouts of Closely Held Shares: All’s Fair Value in Love and War

DarrowEverett LLP on

In matters of corporate divorce, deadlock, majority oppression, or usurpation of corporate opportunities are all well-tread grounds for disputes between co-owners of closely held entities. These disputes often culminate in...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

“Irreparable Harm” and Injunctions in Close Business Owner Disputes

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Injunctions are an indispensable weapon in the business divorce lawyer’s arsenal. Primarily defensive in nature, temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions tend to feature prominently at the outset of business...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Bad Things Can Happen When You Steal a Business from a Minority Co-Owner

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Occasionally, we come across court cases in which the majority owners so egregiously mistreated their minority co-owners that it’s difficult not to write about it — if only as a lesson in what not to do to separate oneself as...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Surrogate’s Court Jurisdiction to Resolve Close Business Owner Disputes

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Do New York’s Surrogate’s Courts have jurisdiction to compel an accounting related to a non-party limited liability company in which the decedent’s estate has only a minority interest? ...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Can One 50% Shareholder Sue the Other in the Company Name on the Company Dollar? Answer: It Depends

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

In the menagerie of closely held companies, those owned and controlled by 50/50 business partners pose unique benefits and challenges. On the benefit side, co-equal ownership and control can foster cooperation,...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Business Divorce and Restrictive Covenants

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Closely-held business owner breakups often defy easy categorization. What seem at first blush to be traditional business divorce cases sometimes end up treading far into other legal practice areas. Other disputes blur...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Greetings from the American Bar Association’s 2023 LLC Institute

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Over its three-decade rise to the closely-held business entity of choice, the Limited Liability Company has won a special place in our hearts.  The majority of disputes we litigate and blog about concern ownership of or...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

The Hazards of 'Weaponizing' Capital Call and Dilution Provisions

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

There are many ways that an owner of a closely-held business can use their superior financial resources to gain an advantage over their co-owners in a dispute. One common way is the use of a capital call provision to dilute...more

Conn Kavanaugh

Backstage Pass: What Lawsuit Pleadings Tell Us About Life In A Rock And Roll Band

Conn Kavanaugh on

In a lawsuit filed in California last year, Journey guitarist Neal Schon alleged that bandmate Jonathan Cain had denied him access to the group’s corporate credit card. Cain alleged in a cross-complaint that Schon’s prior...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

Without Equal? Pennsylvania Federal Court Charts New Path, Rules Fiduciary Duty Exists Between 50/50 Co-owners Of A Business

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

There is arguably no more prevalent legal claim in business divorces than a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty. Simply put (and I do mean simply), when one person owes a fiduciary duty to another, the person with the duty...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

Can Closely Held Companies Investigate Shareholder Complaints Without Breaking The Bank?

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

Last month, we tackled Pennsylvania’s “universal” demand requirement. As a refresher, unlike many states, Pennsylvania will not excuse the shareholder of a company who wants the company to sue its executives or directors from...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

PA's “Universal Demand” Requirement: A Hazard For The Unwary Business Divorce Practitioner

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

Attorneys that represent shareholders of publicly traded companies in securities litigation are intimately familiar with the pre-suit demand required by the corporate law of many states. ...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

A Father-Son Fight Helps Define The Scope Of Arbitration Provisions In Closely Held Company Disputes

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

There is perhaps no richer vein of literary gold than conflict between fathers and sons. Hamlet, Robinson Crusoe, multiple characters drawn by Charles Dickens, not to mention the mother of all family contretemps, Oedipus Rex,...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Is it Time To Stop Reflexively Applying Brown v. Brown to Disallow Discounts When Valuing a Marital Interest in a Business?

Fox Rothschild LLP on

For more than twenty years, the case of Brown v. Brown, decided by the Appellate Division in 2002, essentially changed the standard of value in divorce cases from fair market value to fair value or fair market value without...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Evidenceless Petition to Dissolve

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

It’s hard not to feel sorry for the petitioner in Fernandes v Matrix Model Staffing, Inc., Decision and Order, Index No. 160294/2021 [Sup Ct, NY County Apr. 20, 2022]. In Fernandes, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Frank...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Early Mediation in Fiduciary Disputes

Robins Kaplan LLP on

Frequent Spotlight contributor Denise Rahne sat down with former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, whose experience as a practitioner, judge, and mediator provides him with a unique perspective on early...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

This Is Not Your Father’s Brady Bunch

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

If ever there was a ticking time bomb of a family-owned, closely held business more likely to result in business divorce litigation than the one in Matter of Brady v Brady, 2021 NY Slip Op 02705 [4th Dept Apr. 30, 2021], I...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Stop the Vote: Injunction Halts Shareholders Meeting Pursuant to Courts’ Broad Power to Review Corporate Elections

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

The right of shareholders to elect a corporation’s directors is one of the most valuable rights attendant to share ownership.  Election of directors is where shareholders can directly exert their influence on the corporation,...more

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP

Law Brief ®: Alan Gaynor and Richard Schoenstein Explore Business Divorce

On the latest Law Brief ® episode, Corporate & Securities Partner Alan Gaynor joins Partner and Host Rich Schoenstein to discuss business divorces for closely-held corporations. They explore how the courts typically approach...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

On the Menu: Steak and Equitable Dissolution

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Fine dining and business divorce crossed paths in a recently decided case featuring a lengthy battle between co-equal ownership factions of the corporation that operates Delmonico’s, the renowned Manhattan restaurant...more

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP

COVID-19 Pandemic: An Increase In Business Divorce?

One need not have a specialized “barometer” to anticipate an onslaught of partnership storms for closely held businesses. Similar to the way in which sociologists and family counselors have predicted unfortunate spikes in...more

Harris Beach PLLC

When Terminating Officers in the Family-Owned Business, Follow the By-Laws

Harris Beach PLLC on

A Minnesota Appeals Court recently ruled that a father could not terminate his son as the president of the family-owned business because the father did not have authority to do so under the company’s by-laws.  Call v. Call,...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

[Webinar] Closely Held Family Business Disputes – the Law and Beyond - February 20th, 11:00am CT

Robins Kaplan LLP on

Tuesday, February 20, 2018, 11:00 A.M. CST -- Closely held business disputes possess elements of garden-variety commercial litigation, and elements of family conflicts (even when the business is not a family business)....more

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