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New York law regards a shareholder derivative plaintiff’s standing as fundamentally distinct from the plaintiff’s individual capacity. That leads to problems where a shareholder derivative defendant hopes to counterclaim against the plaintiff for personal liabilities. Read about this problem, and whether it forecloses direct counterclaims against shareholder derivative plaintiffs, in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Can a Shareholder Suing Derivatively Face Countersuit Individually?

In this week’s New York Business Divorce we take a deep dive into the law of res judicata and collateral estoppel, tackling a recurring issue in business divorce litigation: re-litigation following standing-based dismissals.
Continue Reading Legal Déjà Vu: The Law of Preclusion and Re-Litigation of Standing-Based Dismissals

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, we take a foray into the law of employment and restrictive covenants inspired by a recent decision from New York County Commercial Division Justice Robert R. Reed rejecting a challenge to the enforceability of non-solicitation covenants in the limited partnership agreements of investment banking powerhouse Parella Weinberg Partners.
Continue Reading Business Divorce and Restrictive Covenants

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, read about the Appellate Division – First Department’s important decision last Friday clarifying how courts must apply the internal affairs doctrine to the question of standing to sue in derivative cases involving non-New York incorporated entities.
Continue Reading Derivative Standing and the Internal Affairs Doctrine

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, we consider some recurring problems for corporate and general counsel in business divorce cases, including difficult issues of attorney-client privilege and the appreciable risk of disqualification when roles change from corporate to litigation counsel.
Continue Reading Pitfalls for Corporate Counsel in Business Divorce Disputes

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, read about a multi-year litigation odyssey culminating in the statute-of-limitations dismissal of a claim for misappropriation of an alleged corporate opportunity to own land based upon the date of execution of the contract of sale rather than the closing of the real estate purchase.
Continue Reading A Litigation Odyssey

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, read about a rare decision considering whether to grant an untimely BCL 1118 buyout election and the unsavory consequence of the respondent’s delay: imposition of a million dollar bond.
Continue Reading The Worst of Both Worlds: Untimely Buyout Election Yields Full Merits Hearing and Huge Bond