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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Delaware
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.
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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.
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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.
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Conflicts of Laws and the Internal Affairs Doctrine

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, read about the matrimonial-turned-business-divorce litigation between Italian billionaire Silvio Scaglia and his estranged wife / business partner, Julia Haart, and the difficult conflicts-of-laws questions that can arise when litigating damages claims related to Delaware entities in New York courts.
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The “Conflict of Interest” Defense to Shareholder Derivative Standing

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, read about the opaque doctrine of disqualifying shareholder derivative plaintiff conflicts of interest, including a pair of decisions less than a month apart by New York and Delaware courts casting doubt upon the doctrine’s continued expanse and viability.
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A Fresh Take on Partnership to LLC Conversions
In this week’s New York Business Divorce, read about a brand new decision considering the correct interpretation of a rarely-litigated statute: Section 1006 of the Limited Liability Company Law authorizing partnership to LLC conversions. The decision provides transactional lawyers useful guidance to structure such a reorganization to potentially avoid a limited partner’s right to dissent from the transaction and seek fair value in an appraisal proceeding.
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