This weeks New York Business Divorce proudly presents the 13th annual edition of Summer Shorts featuring brief commentary on five recent decisions of interest in business divorce cases in the New York courts.
Continue Reading Summer Shorts: Equitable Contribution, Stock Redemption, and Other Recent Decisions of Interest
In this week’s New York Business Divorce, we continue to explore the subject of advancement and indemnification of legal fees, this time under the laws of Delaware.
Continue Reading The Contract is King: Advancement and Indemnification Under Delaware Law
Last week, the Court of Appeals announced a major clarification of the law of advancement and indemnification of legal fees in disputes among closely-held business owners. Read about it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Warning: If You Want Legal Fee Advancement or Indemnification, You May Need to Amend Your Partnership, Shareholder, or Operating Agreement
In this week’s New York Business Divorce, we tackle one of the most spectacular and well-publicized business falling-outs of modern times: Michael D. Cohen’s departure from the Trump Organization LLC, his resulting criminal conviction, and his cooperation with the Federal Government’s various investigations into activities surrounding former President Trump J. Trump. As an alleged former officer of the Trump Organization, Cohen sued the company for indemnification under its operating agreement for millions of dollars in legal fees resulting from the sprawling array of civil, administrative, and criminal proceedings against him. Learn how Cohen’s claims were resolved in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading The Outer Limits of LLC Indemnification: Michael Cohen v Trump Organization
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.
Continue Reading A Partnership Dissolution in Three Acts Over Fifteen Years and Counting
George Costanza would be unhappy to hear about an Appellate Division decision last week affirming a trial court ruling, among others of interest in an LLC appraisal proceeding, in which it rejected as “double dipping” a request for post-valuation date income distributions on top of the fair value award. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading No Double Dipping! Court Denies Post-Valuation Date Distributions in Equitable Buyout of LLC Member
New York law imposes some strict limits on the ability of closely-held business owners and fiduciaries to recover advancement and indemnification of their legal fees from the entity in defense of derivative actions and other business divorce disputes. When advancement rights are abused, there are ways for minority owners to fight back. Read on in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Can the Company Pay My Legal Fees? – Part Two
In its ruling last week in Carr v Global Payments Inc., the Delaware Court of Chancery had to decide whether to reverse its prior order requiring advancement of a former corporate officer’s litigation expenses after the company subsequently amended its complaint in the underlying suit for the precise purpose of avoiding advancement. Find out what happened in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Advance! Amend! Retreat!
Business divorce litigants ask all the time, “Can the company pay my legal fees?” In this week’s New York Business Divorce, the first in a two-part series, we take a look at ways in which closely-held business owners and managers may defend themselves with funds advanced or indemnified by the business.
Continue Reading Can the Company Pay My Legal Fees?
Is a former director and officer entitled to advancement of legal fees incurred in the defense of legal claims asserted against her by the corporation? That was the question decided by VC Glasscock of the Delaware Chancery Court in a case where the corporate charter’s indemnification and advancement provisions were not a model of clarity.
Continue Reading Ambiguous Advancement Provision Favors Former Officer and Director