Photo of Peter A. Mahler

Peter A. Mahler

Subscribe to Peter A. Mahler's Posts

Peter A. Mahler is a litigator focusing on business divorce cases involving dissolution and other disputes among co-­owners of closely held business entities, such as limited liability companies, corporations, and partnerships. Peter represents both control and non-control owners, often involving family-owned businesses. Frequently counseling business owners prior to litigation, he advises them of their rights and also assists in designing and negotiating an amicable separation between parties. Peter’s counsel helps avoid litigation by means of a buy-out, sale, or division of business assets.

 

 

Follow:Read more about Peter A. MahlerPeter A.'s Linkedin ProfilePeter A.'s Twitter Profile

This week’s New York Business Divorce goes to the movies, sort of, as it looks at a recent Delaware Chancery Court decision granting a former LLC manager’s claim for advancement of legal expenses, in which the court drew comparison between the defendant’s losing argument and a scene from the Mel Brooks film Spaceballs.
Continue Reading When Will Then Be Now? Court Construes LLC Agreement’s Advancement Provision With An Assist From Spaceballs

This 6th annual edition of Summer Shorts presents brief commentary on three decisions of interest in business divorce cases, including a dispute among LLP partners over the reduction of one partner’s interest; disqualification of counsel in an LLC dissolution case; and a Delaware books-and-records case involving phantom stock. …
Continue Reading Summer Shorts: Partnership Interest Reduction and Other Recent Decisions of Interest

Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Anil Singh’s recent decision in Saleeby v Remco Maintenance teaches some valuable lessons about how not to draft stock or membership interest redemption provisions in executive employment agreements. It’s in this week’s New York Business Divorce. …
Continue Reading Good Faith Trumps Sole Discretion in LLC Agreement’s Repurchase Provision

Justice Saliann Scarpulla’s recent decision in MFB Realty LLC v Eichner highlights statutory and contractual restrictions surrounding the scope of the rights transferred when LLC interests are assigned. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Operating Agreement’s Two-Step Consent Provision Foils Assignment of LLC Member Interest

The Delaware Court of Chancery plays an outsized role not only in the public company arena, but also in the field of business divorce and other disputes among co-owners of closely held corporations, partnerships, and LLCs. This week’s New York Business Divorce sets the stage and invites you to listen to a podcast interview of Delaware lawyers Kurt Heyman and Pete Ladig discussing litigation of business divorce cases in the Delaware Chancery Court.
Continue Reading Business Divorce, Delaware Style

This week’s New York Business Divorce highlights an unusual corporate dissolution case in which a tie-break provision in the shareholders agreement of 50/50 shareholders gave one of them the decisive vote in the event of board deadlock, which in turn doomed the other’s deadlock dissolution petition.
Continue Reading Tie-Breaker in Shareholders Agreement Defeats Deadlock Dissolution Petition

Deadlock in LLCs with two equal members can be a major problem and trigger for dissolution proceedings, which is why it’s crucial to consider deadlock avoidance provisions in the operating agreement. This week’s New York Business Divorce, and a related podcast interview on the Business Divorce Roundtable, features noted LLC expert and attorney John Cunningham on the topic of LLC deadlock and how to avoid it.
Continue Reading John Cunningham on Avoiding Deadlock in Two-Member LLCs