The phrase “naked expulsion clause” is not a biblical reference to Adam and Eve’s eviction from the Garden of Eden. It’s about a provision in an LLC agreement at the center of a recent ruling by the Appellate Division, Second Department, in a 10-year litigation saga involving a fractured family-owned business. This week’s New York Business Divorce has the story.
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Peter Mahler
Court Bounces Books-and-Records Petition in Feud Over Park Avenue Co-op Board’s Rejection of Prospective Purchasers
A bidding war 20 years ago over the purchase of maid’s quarters in a ritzy Park Avenue co-op. A series of co-op board rejections of a shareholder’s proposed sale of his apartment. A recent court decision denying a books-and-records petition. What’s the connection? Find out in this week’s New York Business Divorce. …
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The Purposeless Purpose Clause Rides Again
In a recent decision by Justice Andrea Masley, the court dismissed a petition to dissolve a realty holding LLC based on the operating agreement’s broad purpose clause of the any-lawful-business type. Get the full story in this week’s New York Business Divorce.…
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Business Divorce Nation: A Cross-Country Tour of Recent Decisions of Interest
It’s time for another cross-country trip in this week’s New York Business Divorce which summarizes a quintet of recent appellate decisions in business divorce cases by courts outside New York. …
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A Partnership Dissolution in Three Acts Over Fifteen Years and Counting
It’s no match for Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, but 15 years is some sort of record for litigating the breakup of a single-asset real estate partnership during which one of the partners died, triggering the other’s option to purchase under a fixed-price formula. Read about it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.…
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Summer Shorts: For-Cause Termination of LLC Member and Other Decisions of Interest
This 10th annual edition of Summer Shorts presents brief commentary on four recent decisions of interest in business divorce cases in the New York courts along with a recent decision by the Mississippi Supreme Court upholding an unusual freeze-out remedy.…
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Dissolve for Failure to Elect a Board? Better Demand an Election First
This week’s New York Business Divorce highlights a recent decision by Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Andrea Masley dismissing a petition to dissolve a realty holding corporation brought under the rarely used Section 1104 (c) of the Business Corporation Law for failure to hold board elections.…
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Does an LLC Member Have Absolute Power to Withdraw from the LLC?
“Can I withdraw?” is a question frequently posed by unhappy LLC members to their legal counsel. This week’s New York Business Divorce features a recap of a highly informative conversation on that topic conducted on the Listserv of the ABA Business Law Section’s Committee on LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities. …
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“Rank Pretext Will Not Do”: Court Enjoins Freeze-Out Merger With No Corporate Benefit
“Rank pretext will not do.” With those words, a Manhattan judge preliminarily enjoined a freeze-out merger in the absence of credible evidence that the merger advanced a general corporate purpose. Get the full story in this week’s New York Business Divorce.…
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Disputes Over Member Status Continue to Roil the LLC Waters
What is it about LLCs that spawn so many lawsuits over member status and percentage interests? This week’s New York Business Divorce may not have the answer, but it does highlight a trio of recent court decisions involving disputed ownership claims. …
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