Hoping to derive standing to sue from an LLC membership interest assignment? This week’s New York Business Divorce is another reminder that assignment of a membership interest does not convey actual membership status, with all the coveted legal rights flowing therefrom, unless the operating agreement grants the assignor such power, and, then, only where the assignor and assignee comply with all the conditions of the contract for admission of a new member. Anything less can result in total litigation defeat.

Continue Reading Mere Assignment of an LLC Membership Interest Does Not Make You a Member

The Appellate Division, Second Department delivered last week a fascinating case pitting a deadlock-based LLC dissolution petition against an equity forfeiture provision in the parties’ operating agreement.  Add to that a bracing reminder that lazy pleadings and procedural missteps in special proceedings can be outcome-determinative, and Ribeiro v Libutti, 2025 NY Slip Op 06865 (2d Dept Dec. 10, 2025), becomes a cautionary tale for business owners and litigators alike.

Continue Reading Hop Farmers Face Membership Forfeiture as a Deadlock Breaker and a Bitter Lesson on Pleading Shortcuts

This week on New York Business Divorce, read about the interplay between statutory and contract rules for LLC manager removal or expulsion, set within an appeal from a trio of decisions we wrote about what feels like a lifetime ago.

Continue Reading How Easily Can an Operating Agreement Supplant the Default Rule for LLC Manager Removal? Pretty Easily.

This week’s New York Business Divorce features an intra-family battle concerning the precise contours of admittance as a “full” member of the family business.

Continue Reading For Embattled Bich Family, “Full Membership” Requires Admittance Without Precondition