Episode 5: Business Divorce, Delaware Style
Episode 8: Minority Oppression in the LLC: Interview With Professor Douglas Moll
Delaware Chancery Court’s contractarian approach to all things LLC, embedded statutorily in Section 18-1101(b) of the Delaware LLC Act (“It is the policy of this chapter to give the maximum effect to the principle of freedom...more
Count ’em: At the time A sued B for judicial dissolution of one of their several jointly owned companies, there are not one, not two, not three, but eight pending lawsuits between the two 50/50 business partners who first...more
Parallel business divorce proceedings in the same or different courts alleging overlapping or duplicative claims are common. When it occurs, judges must often determine whether to dispose of one so the other may proceed...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
Potential client sits down with business divorce lawyer and says, “I’m a minority shareholder in XYZ Corp. I’ve been completely frozen out by the majority. Can you help me?” The lawyer says, “Absolutely. New York law gives...more
It’s been many years since our last pop quiz for all you business divorce aficionados. Time for another. See how many you get right before you read the answers...more
When two or more people become owners of a limited liability company and embody their relationship in an operating agreement, they usually see sunshine and rainbows in their future. They have an idea, they have a corporate...more
It seems a bit exaggerated to liken the deterioration of a relationship between 50/50 business partners to a fatal disease, but in the case of Pathology Associates of Ithaca, P.C., recently pronounced dead by act of judicial...more
In Pennsylvania, Manufactured Deadlocks are Unlikely to Trigger Judicial Dissolution - In disputes among the owners of a closely held company, involuntary judicial dissolution is the nuclear option....more
It’s a bit of a stretch to suggest that King Solomon prophesied the standard for judicial dissolution of LLCs, but there it is: under New York’s judicially construed standard for involuntary dissolution under Section 702 of...more
The statutory right to judicial dissolution in California comes with a hook — the defendants can avoid dissolution by exercising a “buyout” procedure. This is true in both LLCs (Corporations Code section 17703.03) and...more
Generally speaking, New York courts respect the corporate form, regarding the liabilities of the entity as separate from and inapplicable to the entity’s principals. Under this principle, a plaintiff may litigate a difficult...more
Appearances can be deceiving. - That, essentially, was the argument made in two recently decided cases involving claims for judicial dissolution. ...more
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
There are countless New York corporations in which the owners are equal 50/50 shareholders and co-members of a two-member board. Where one sues the other for judicial dissolution, and the ground for dissolution is “deadlock”...more