Classifying a shareholder claim as direct or derivative has important consequences at the pleading stage and beyond. This week’s New York Business Divorce looks at a recent decision by Justice Melvin Schweitzer in which he concluded that the defendant majority shareholder’s alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, constituting a “de facto liquidation” of the company, could support dual direct and derivative claims.
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(I Can’t Get No) Appreciation: Valuing a Deceased Partner’s Interest When the Business Continues
New York’s ancient and outmoded Partnership Law continues to generate litigation almost 100 years after its adoption. A case in point, featured in this week’s New York Business Divorce, is Breidbart v. Wiesenthal, decided earlier this month by the Appellate Division, Second Department, addressing the question whether post-dissolution gain on the sale of realty is included in “profits” under Partnership Law Section 73, applicable when valuing the interest of a deceased or retired partner.
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When is Permitted Collateral Assignment of LLC Membership Interest a Prohibited Sale?
In Shao v. Li, decided last week by Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Charles Ramos, the court analyzed a claim by one LLC member that his co-members entered into a sham collateral assignment of a membership interest designed to circumvent a right of first refusal. You won’t want to miss it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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Court Chooses Voluntary Dismissal Over Buy-Out in Two-Year Dissolution Case
A decision last month by Albany Justice Richard Platkin in Matter of Ryan (Integra Networks, Inc.) opted in favor of the petitioners’ request to voluntarily discontinue their corporate dissolution proceeding over the respondents’ request for leave to make an untimely buy-out election. Find out why in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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Fighting for Home Court Advantage in Multi-State Business Divorce Litigation
What happens when feuding business partners bring competing lawsuits against each other, including a dissolution proceeding, in different courts in different states? That’s the question addressed in a recent decision by Suffolk County Commercial Division Justice Elizabeth Emerson in Picarella v. HMA Properties, LLC, highlighted in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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Unanimous Vote Requirement in LLC Agreement Turns on Meaning of “Commitment”
If you’re going to require super-majority consent as to certain business decisions in a shareholder or operating agreement, be sure to draft clearly so as to leave no room for potential litigation over the level of required consent. That’s the lesson of Herbert v Schodack Exit Ten, LLC, decided earlier this month by an upstate appellate panel and highlighted in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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Can’t Get Rid of Those Nooks and Crannies: Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
The implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is a much misunderstood and frequently misused legal doctrine in disputes between co-owners of business entities. A decision by the Delaware Supreme Court earlier this month provides an excellent roadmap to understand the doctrine and the ability–or not–to contract around it. It’s in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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Trouble Looms When Clients Negotiate Their Own Shareholder Buy-Out Settlement Agreements
A recent ruling by Justice Timothy Driscoll in De Well Shipping Container Corp. v. Guo highlights the uncertainties and perils when clients, without their lawyers present, negotiate and sign an informal agreement settling a shareholder dispute with a buy-out. Read about it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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What Law Applies When Internal Affairs Doctrine Clashes With Choice-of-Law Clause?
It happens once in a while: the co-owners of a business entity formed under the laws of State X have a choice of law clause in their agreement opting to be governed by the laws of State Y. Such was the case in Gelman v. Gelman, recently decided by Justice Daniel Palmieri involving a dispute between sibling co-members of a Delaware LLC whose operating agreement had a New York choice of law provision. Which state’s law did the court apply? Get the answer in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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Business Divorce Cases in the Suffolk County Commercial Division
As New York’s Suffolk County continues to grow its population and economy, so too grows the volume and complexity of business litigation in the courts of Suffolk County Supreme Court. This week’s New York Business Divorce focuses on the Suffolk County Commercial Division, with a sampling of three recent decisions of interest by Justices Emerson, Pines and Whelan involving shareholder disputes.
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