Williams Mullen Mezzanine Lending Video Series - Episode 4
Episode 021: Member Liquidity, Default Rules, and the Corporate-ization of LLCs: A Conversation with Dean Donald J. Weidner
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
The members of Nite Cap’s owner, Bull-Poet, LLC, recently traded the full sheets and gentle seas of the Hudson for the strum and drang of litigation in New York’s Supreme Court. But the squall has passed; thanks to New York...more
New York’s default rules regarding LLC members’ rights to transfer their interests appear in sections 603 and 604 of the LLC Law. Section 603 provides that a membership interest is fully assignable, but the assignee does not...more
“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
Appearances can be deceiving. - That, essentially, was the argument made in two recently decided cases involving claims for judicial dissolution. ...more
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
We often cover preliminary injunctions on the pages of this blog because they are a powerful tool in the business divorce litigator’s toolbox: they force court action early in the case, they can protect rights that are...more
Who says email is more efficient and cheaper than regular mail? - Not the manager of the McGuire family real estate business after winning a lower court ruling only to see it reversed on appeal last month in a decision...more
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
Welcome to this 11th annual edition of Summer Shorts! This year’s edition features brief commentary on half a dozen business divorce cases of interest from across the country. ...more
Now that I’ve got your attention, relax. At least for New York LLCs, a member can be expelled from an LLC only if expressly authorized by the operating agreement....more
Ten months ago, we wrote about an unusual case involving an LLC member who documented two irreconcilable membership interest transfers upon death. In Harris v Harris, 2020 NY Slip Op 31570(U) [Sup Ct, NY County Apr. 23,...more
It’s not unusual to find buy-out provisions in shareholder and operating agreements that commit the pricing of the buy-out to the “final and binding” determination of one or more appraisers. The same agreements also may...more
The case of Shapiro v Ettenson ranks as one of the more consequential ones in the realm of New York’s LLC jurisprudence....more
In 2018, two members of a realty holding LLC sought judicial dissolution based on the death of one of the other members. The operating agreement defines a member’s death as an event of “Dissociation.”...more
Here we go again — and again and again. On numerous prior occasions I’ve written about judicial dissolution cases and other infighting among LLC members featuring disputes over membership percentages. ...more
The nationwide landscape of statutes and case law governing judicial dissolution of limited liability companies exhibits more state-to-state similarity than dissimilarity....more
Consider the following hypothetical: The operating agreement of an LLC vests management authority in its two members. ...more
Three recent court decisions from three different states — New York, Pennsylvania, and Alabama — add to the rogue’s gallery of valuation cases stemming from poorly conceived and/or poorly implemented buy-sell agreements among...more