Pizza’s on the menu in this week’s New York Business Divorce, or at least a dispute between co-members of an LLC that owns a popular Manhattan pizzeria. Just don’t look for any extra cheese on Justice Sherwood’s recent decision in Manzella v. Caporuscio, authorizing the majority member to terminate the minority member’s employment.
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Court Holds Shareholder in Contempt for Using Company Funds to Pay Legal Fees
Controlling shareholders who oppose corporate dissolution proceedings may be tempted to use company funds to pay their legal fees. This week’s New York Business Divorce features a decision by Justice Orin Kitzes holding in contempt of court a majority shareholder who did just that, …
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Negotiating a Buyout? Don’t Overlook Taxes on Phantom Income
A Manhattan appellate panel’s ruling last month provides a cautionary lesson about the need to anticipate and address tax issues, including potential taxes on phantom income, when negotiating buyout settlements involving shares in passthrough entities. You’ll find it in this week’s New York Business Divorce. …
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Court Upholds Former Officer’s Right to Seek Indemnity and Advancement in Intra-Company Dispute
This week’s New York Business Divorce features an important decision last month by Justice Vito DeStefano in which he upheld a claim for advancement of legal fees incurred by a close corporation minority shareholder, director and former officer, who initiated suit against the controlling shareholder, in defending counterclaims asserted in the name and right of the company. …
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Novel Ruling on Advancement in LLC Dissolution Case “Levels the Playing Field”
Justice Stephen Bucaria’s recent decision in PFT Technology LLC v. Wieser is one of only a handful of rulings by New York courts addressing the right to advancement of legal fees in litigation among members of a limited liability company. Learn more 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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The Accidental Pro Bono Business Divorce Lawyer
The lawyer who appeared for the corporation in Matter of Boucher, decided last week by a Brooklyn appellate panel, learned the hard way that courts will not allow one 50% shareholder to use corporate funds to resist dissolution sought by the other 50% shareholder. It’s in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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Arbitration Award in Stock Buy-Out Dispute Withstands Challenge
This week’s New York Business Divorce examines a recent decision by Justice Carolyn E. Demarest in Pisane v. Feig, where the court confirmed an arbitration award stemming from a petition for judicial dissolution of several affiliated companies, in which the arbitrator decided which of the two parties was entitled to buy out the other, and at what price.
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What Does Chancellor Strine’s Auriga Capital Decision Teach Us About Fiduciary Duties of New York LLC Managers? (Part One)
In the first of a two-part series, this week’s New York Business Divorce looks at the Delaware Chancery Court’s important decision last month in Auriga Capital v. Gatz in which Chancellor Leo Strine, Jr. sets forth an analytic framework for imposition of fiduciary duties on managers of Delaware LLCs. Next week’s post will compare the law governing fiduciary duties of New York LLC managers.
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Forensic Accounting Helps Wins the Day in Oppressed Shareholder Stock Valuation Proceeding
A recent decision by Queens County Commercial Division Justice Orin Kitzes in Matter of Adelstein illustrates the crucial role of forensic accounting in testing and adjusting a company’s financial statements for purposes of stock valuation in an oppressed minority shareholder case. Read more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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