Hard to believe in the year 2021 we’re seeing litigation over the validity of capital calls because notice was given by email rather than snail mail, but that’s what happened in a case recently decided by the Appellate Division, Fourth Department and reported in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Court Cancels Capital Call For Want of a Postage Stamp

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, read about the plight of a Brooklyn beer brewing company founder whose co-members allegedly attempted to “freeze out” his interest by way of a forced dilution and ouster from management, and his efforts to fight back with a start-of-the-case preliminary injunction motion.
Continue Reading Court Enjoins Dilution of Brewing Company LLC Membership Interest

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, a would-be LLC dissolution plaintiff goes down swinging on an unanswered complaint within an unopposed motion for a default judgment, just the latest example of New York courts closely scrutinizing the merits of LLC dissolution claims at the pleadings stage.
Continue Reading Swing and a Miss: Unopposed LLC Dissolution Claim Denied

A hot topic of late, the viability in New York of common-law dissolution of limited liability companies is cast into doubt by a new decision, the third in a series from Brooklyn Commercial Division Justice Leon Ruchelsman. Read about it, and where the case law may go from here, in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Common-Law and Equitable LLC Dissolution: Going, Going, . . .

This week’s New York Business Divorce features a pair of noteworthy appellate decisions by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and the Appellate Division, First Department, involving unsuccessful suits by non-managing members against managing members of realty holding LLCs.
Continue Reading Managing Members of Realty Holding LLCs Vanquish Self-Dealing Claims

Iowa was one of the earliest of the 22 states that by now have adopted the Revised Uniform LLC Act (2006). Last month, Iowa’s Supreme Court handed down an important first-impression decision construing and applying RULLCA’s judicial dissolution provisions in a case involving a family-owned realty holding company. This week’s New York Business Divorce has the story.
Continue Reading Judicial Dissolution of LLCs Under RULLCA: Iowa Supreme Court Takes the Stage

In this week’s New York Business Divorce, we consider a recent appellate decision addressing the effectiveness of LLC operating agreement “exculpatory” clauses to shield the company’s managers or members from personal liability for misconduct. With the latest decision, the roster of New York appeals court cases to consider this important legal issue grows from a trio to a quartet.
Continue Reading “Intentional” Breach of Fiduciary Duty Defeats Operating Agreement’s Exculpatory Clause

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies or “SPACs” have become all the rage over the last two years, so it was inevitable that we’d see litigation between members of the LLCs that serve as SPAC sponsors. This week’s New York Business Divorce looks at a case stemming from a dispute over whether the sponsor’s operating agreement gave members an ongoing right to participate in future SPACs.
Continue Reading It Was Only a Matter of Time: SPAC Meets Business Divorce