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Business Disputes Membership Interest

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Conditional Grants of Membership Interests Are a Roadway to Courtroom Conflict

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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.

Prudent Management or Financial Starvation: Can Minority Members Compel the Majority to Make Distributions?

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

“It all started when the distributions stopped.”  In my travels as a business divorce litigator, I’ve seen many disputes between LLC co-owners that begin with that message.  A minority owner is content to remain a “silent...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Crossing the Hudson: Recent Business Divorce Decisions from Yonder States

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Perils of Indeterminate LLC Membership Interests, Redux

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Judicially Expelled Member Pays Heavy Price For Abandoning LLC

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Proceed with Caution: Strategy Considerations Before Making a Books and Records Demand

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Use Caution When Amending Your Operating Agreement Without Unanimous Consent

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Recent Decisions Enforce LLC Member’s Right of First Refusal, Restrict Partnership Accounting, and Allow Damages Claim for Breach...

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Operating Agreement Trumps Postnup in High Stakes Battle Over Transfer of LLC Interest

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Husband owns 99% membership of manager-managed LLC. Children own remaining 1%. Postnuptial agreement says husband’s “interest” in LLC goes to wife. LLC agreement says any transferee is not admitted as a member absent the...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

Claiming Ownership Of A Company? You Better Have The Receipts

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Business Divorce in the Divorce Courts

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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

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Derivative Claim Standing: Both Contemporaneous And Continuous Membership Required

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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Two-Act Play of LLC Default Rules and Manager Removal

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

“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

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Disguised Agreements and Dissolution

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Appearances can be deceiving. - That, essentially, was the argument made in two recently decided cases involving claims for judicial dissolution. ...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Cooked or Raw? Enforceability of Partly Signed Operating Agreements

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

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

Gray Reed

Villareal v. Saenz: Fiduciary Duties Will Go On

Gray Reed on

In Villareal v. Saenz, a district court magistrate judge for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, has recognized that members exiting a limited liability company may continue to hold fiduciary duties despite...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Delaware Declines Subject Matter Jurisdiction Over Judicial Dissolution of Foreign Entities

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

It’s not surprising that Vice Chancellor Zurn’s recent, first-impression decision in In re Coinmint, LLC, aligning itself with rulings in many other states including New York, found that Delaware courts lack subject matter...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

A Curb on LLC Form Filing Shenanigans?

In California, all LLCs are required to periodically file a Statement of Information with the Secretary of State.  The Statement of Information is posted to the Secretary of State’s website, and can be accessed by the public...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Two Entities, Two Outcomes: Withdrawal and the Right to an Accounting

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In Jacobs v Cartalemi, now the leading case on the subject of LLC member withdrawal (which our firm had the pleasure of litigating), the Appellate Division – Second Department repeated a well-established principle of law:...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Turmoil Follows Involuntary Transfers of LLC Membership Interests

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LLC enabling legislation swept the country in the late 1980s through the mid 1990s. By the turn of the century we saw a trickle of litigation working its way through the courts involving disputes among LLC co-owners. A decade...more

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