Building and Exiting Business Partnerships
Navigating Corporate Divorce With Michael Einbinder
Episode 23: LLCs as They Approach the 50-Year Milestone: A Conversation with Professor Susan Pace Hamill
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Buy-Sell Agreements: A Conversation With Expert and Author Paul Hood
I Wish I Knew What I Know Now: Conversations with AGG on FDA Issues - Business Divorces in the Food and Supplements Space
Law Brief ®: Alan Gaynor and Richard Schoenstein Explore Business Divorce
Episode 021: Member Liquidity, Default Rules, and the Corporate-ization of LLCs: A Conversation with Dean Donald J. Weidner
Episode 17: Arbitrating Deadlock: A Conversation with Arbitrator Erica Garay
Episode 015: Confessions of a Business Appraiser: A Conversation with Chris Mercer
Episode 014: Business Divorce Stories: Business Appraiser Tony Cotrupe and Attorney Jeff Eilender
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
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
Just like any kind of relationship, not all business partnerships are built to stand the test of time. They can sour just as easily as a romantic partnership or friendship as vision and long-term goals diverge, financial...more
When longtime business partners in private companies go through a business divorce, emotions often run high. One or both of the partners may be seeking a “revenge premium” in the business divorce process based on their...more
“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
Throwing the baby out with the bath water is a pithy expression that suggests exercising caution when business partners in private companies are seeking to achieve a business divorce. The majority owner and the departing...more
Spring is soon upon us. March Madness is at our doorstep. The Formula 1 season is underway. Baseball season will be in full swing shortly. And my allergies are already in bloom....more
Join attorneys Sarah Sawyer and Russell Berger from Offit Kurman as they discuss the dynamics of business relationships. In this episode of OK at Work, they explore the importance of proactive planning in partnerships, the...more
Not long ago, we wrote about the vital need for strict compliance with contractual options to buy or sell closely-held business equity interests. As we noted then, failure to strictly comply with any contractual conditions...more
Success is not just an elusive goal – it can also be difficult to maintain once achieved. For majority owners in private companies, achieving success is just the first hurdle, because once they arrive at this pinnacle, they...more
During Valentine’s Day month, we are taking a look at 50-50 owned private businesses. Forming a co-owned company may sound like a good idea on paper because the two partners are close friends or family members who are making...more
In early July 2024, Florida enacted a significant amendment to its equitable distribution statute, particularly concerning the treatment of personal goodwill in divorce proceedings. These changes, coupled with the pivotal...more
In recent years, the headlines have tracked the news of high-profile breakups among business partners in private companies. These business partner fallouts include: - 2023: Sam Altman was ousted as Open AI CEO (for...more
One of the first business divorce cases that I participated in as a young litigator was a lengthy arbitration over whether a minority shareholder was oppressed under BCL 1104-a. With those fond memories, evolution of the...more
The Story Behind the Case - Kate and David Bartenwerfer started their business with a straightforward plan. The couple decided to renovate and sell a house they jointly owned in San Francisco. David handled the remodeling...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
To prevail on a cause of action in a business divorce lawsuit, the plaintiff has many essential boxes to check. Pleading requirements vary from one claim to another, but all business divorce cases have one thing in common....more
We frequently see a partner’s “fiduciary duties” expressed as the union of the duty of loyalty and the duty of care. The duty of loyalty requires fiduciaries to avoid elevating the interests of any other person or entity...more
Evidence of ownership. Necessary in business divorce. Not always so easy to prove. Today’s case— Xiaoyan Lu v Sagewood SFF III LLC, 2024 NY Slip Op 05895 (1st Dept 2024)—gives an example of how far (or not) the doctrines of...more
Almost exactly one year ago, we wrote about the go-to line of New York case law for business divorce litigants hoping to secure injunctions: a substantial and ever growing body of authority holding that involuntary loss or...more
November was a whirlwind month for New York LLC litigation. It featured disputes over how to wind up a judicially dissolved LLC, a bitter intra-family emergency indemnification/advancement injunction, and the finale of a...more
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
Breaking up is hard to do, as the old song says, and perhaps especially so in the case of partnership breakups and business disputes. Emotion and pride can easily cloud sound business judgment and make it difficult to reach a...more
Here’s What Happened This dispute arose from the operations of 409 North Camden, LLC, which owns a two-story office building in Beverly Hills. The property's history dates back to 1963, when six friends purchased it as...more