In a split 3-2 decision last week, the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed an order dismissing a claim to enforce an oral buy-out agreement involving a Delaware LLC as barred by the merger clause in a subsequently amended operating agreement that the plaintiff never signed. Read about it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading New York Appellate Court’s Split Decision Involving Delaware LLC Pits “Harsh” Contractarianism Against “Fundamental Fairness”
Delaware
The First State Defines the Scope of Majority Shareholder Fiduciary Duties
This week’s post takes us to the halls of Delaware Chancery Court, where a recent decision from Vice Chancellor Laster offers a first-of-its-kind roadmap for assessing the fiduciary duties owed by a majority shareholder.
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Derivative into Direct and Waived into Preserved: The Transformative Power of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
Can a shareholder use the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing inherent in the corporation’s shareholders agreement to plead what otherwise would be derivative claims as direct ones? Find out in this week’s post.
Continue Reading Derivative into Direct and Waived into Preserved: The Transformative Power of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
Derivative Standing and the Internal Affairs Doctrine
In this week’s New York Business Divorce, read about the Appellate Division – First Department’s important decision last Friday clarifying how courts must apply the internal affairs doctrine to the question of standing to sue in derivative cases involving non-New York incorporated entities.
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Operating Agreement Trumps Postnup in High Stakes Battle Over Transfer of LLC Interest
Postnup agreement clashes with LLC agreement’s transfer restrictions in this week’s New York Business Divorce featuring a querelle de famille among the French heirs to the Bic pen fortune.
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The Art of Manager Removal
Combine a business divorce with a marital divorce and what do you get? Find out in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
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The Contract is King: Advancement and Indemnification Under Delaware Law
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.
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A Recurring Business Divorce Feature: Usurpation of Corporate Opportunity
A claim for “usurpation of corporate opportunity” is simple to allege, but difficult to prove. Two recent cases out of the Manhattan Commercial Division and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York explore the bounds of the corporate opportunity doctrine under New York and Delaware law.
Continue Reading A Recurring Business Divorce Feature: Usurpation of Corporate Opportunity
Contrived LLC Deadlock Doesn’t Cut the Delaware Dissolution Mustard
One of the more interesting defenses in judicial dissolution cases alleging deadlock is that the petitioner itself contrived or manufactured the deadlock for the purpose of achieving dissolution. It’s a defense long ago recognized in cases involving close corporations, and only more recently in cases involving LLCs, including a decision this month by the Delaware Chancery Court. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Contrived LLC Deadlock Doesn’t Cut the Delaware Dissolution Mustard
Magic Words Still Matter, and Equitable Defenses Can’t Save a “Void” Transfer
This week’s post covers a case likely to make waves inside and outside of Delaware, where Vice Chancellor Laster explores the interplay between acts that are void ab initio and equitable defenses, and he encourages an appeal so that Delaware may reconsider its laws on the issue.
Continue Reading Magic Words Still Matter, and Equitable Defenses Can’t Save a “Void” Transfer