Grounds for Dissolution

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Hard to believe the two, 50/50 owners of a company with half a billion annual sales and $80 million profit can’t overcome their mutual antipathy, but that’s exactly what happened in Shawe v. Elting, a decision last week by the Delaware Chancery Court ordering the appointment of a custodian to sell the company. It’s in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading “Locked in Corporate Hell”: Bitter Feud Between Deadlocked 50/50 Owners Leads Court to Order Sale of Lucrative Company

In Goldstein v Pikus, decided last month by Justice Charles Ramos, the court dismissed a dissolution petition alleging deadlock, brought by one of two co-managing members of an LLC that owns a residential apartment building. Find out why in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Deadlock Hits Dead End in LLC Dissolution Case

A recent decision by Justice Vito DeStefano in Breidbart v Olshan offers valuable pleading tips and identifies pleading pitfalls for practitioners in crafting complaints in partnership disputes. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Decision Yields Hits and Misses for Plaintiff in Partnership Dissolution Case

The test for dissolution of an LLC includes whether its purpose as defined in the LLC agreement is no longer achievable. This week’s New York Business Divorce looks at cases, including a Delaware Chancery Court decision released days ago, in which courts have looked outside the agreement to determine the LLC’s purpose. …
Continue Reading Finding Purpose Outside the LLC Agreement

Last week’s decision by a Manhattan appellate panel in Barone v. Sowers reaffirms its holding two years ago in Doyle v. Icon, LLC that a minority member of an LLC cannot solely rely on allegations of oppression by the majority member to survive a pretrial motion for dismissal of a dissolution claim. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Oppression Claims Don’t Cut It in LLC Dissolution Cases

On the heels of the Zelouf and AriZona Iced Tea cases, this week’s New York Business Divorce highlights yet another interesting fair value contest, decided by Justice Carolyn Demarest, involving a battle of forensic accounting and valuation experts over the alleged skimming of millions in cash receipts at a restaurant. …
Continue Reading Restaurant’s Cash-Skimming Majority Owners Forced to Buy Out Minority Shareholder or Face Dissolution

Tom Rutledge, one of the country’s leading lawyers and commentators on business organizations, recently published a fascinating article on minority shareholder oppression in which he challenges whether courts ought to provide remedies for terminated at-will employees who also happen to be minority shareholders. Read about it in this week’s New York Business Divorce. …
Continue Reading You’re Fired! No, I’m Oppressed!

A recent decision by Justice Vito DeStefano highlights the choices to be made by a 50% shareholder when choosing the statutory basis for dissolution, and the effect the choice has on available remedies. The case is featured in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Choose the Right Dissolution Statute for the Right Remedy