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
I recently had the privilege of speaking to an audience of judges of the New York Supreme Court Commercial Division at Fordham Law School’s Eileen Bransten Institute on Complex Commercial Litigation. Naturally, the topic was...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
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
Appearances can be deceiving. - That, essentially, was the argument made in two recently decided cases involving claims for judicial dissolution. ...more
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
Under both New York and Delaware law, members of an LLC may petition for judicial dissolution on the grounds that the management is so hopelessly deadlocked that the LLC can no longer function in accordance with its purpose...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
The Chancery Court of Delaware is considered by many to be the most influential U.S. court when it comes to business law, mostly due to that state's dominant role as the preferred state of incorporation of publicly held...more