The case featured in this week’s New York Business Divorce illustrates the havoc that can follow when company owners create inconsistent ownership records for purposes of deceiving government agencies.
Continue Reading Operating Agreement Trumps Falsified Liquor License Application In Dispute Over LLC Membership

Brooklyn’s newest Commercial Division Justice, Sylvia G. Ash, last month handed down an interesting decision denying a petition for judicial dissolution of an LLC brought by a 25% member alleging freeze-out. Catch up with the latest developments in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Another Frozen-Out Minority LLC Member’s Petition for Dissolution Bites the . . . Sushi?

The LLC freeze-out merger has been referred to by one scholar as “hidden statutory expulsion.” In a decision last month featured in this week’s New York Business Divorce, Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Charles Ramos refused to enjoin a freeze-out merger challenged by minority members of an LLC who claimed that it violated the LLC’s operating agreement.
Continue Reading Court Finds No Breach of Operating Agreement, No Basis to Enjoin LLC Freeze-Out Merger

This week’s New York Business Divorce goes to the movies, sort of, as it looks at a recent Delaware Chancery Court decision granting a former LLC manager’s claim for advancement of legal expenses, in which the court drew comparison between the defendant’s losing argument and a scene from the Mel Brooks film Spaceballs.
Continue Reading When Will Then Be Now? Court Construes LLC Agreement’s Advancement Provision With An Assist From Spaceballs

Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Anil Singh’s recent decision in Saleeby v Remco Maintenance teaches some valuable lessons about how not to draft stock or membership interest redemption provisions in executive employment agreements. It’s in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Good Faith Trumps Sole Discretion in LLC Agreement’s Repurchase Provision

Justice Saliann Scarpulla’s recent decision in MFB Realty LLC v Eichner highlights statutory and contractual restrictions surrounding the scope of the rights transferred when LLC interests are assigned. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Operating Agreement’s Two-Step Consent Provision Foils Assignment of LLC Member Interest

Deadlock in LLCs with two equal members can be a major problem and trigger for dissolution proceedings, which is why it’s crucial to consider deadlock avoidance provisions in the operating agreement. This week’s New York Business Divorce, and a related podcast interview on the Business Divorce Roundtable, features noted LLC expert and attorney John Cunningham on the topic of LLC deadlock and how to avoid it.
Continue Reading John Cunningham on Avoiding Deadlock in Two-Member LLCs

Is the contractual freedom associated with LLC statutory default rules being used to promote efficiencies or opportunistically by LLC controllers at the expense of vulnerable LLC members? That’s the subject of a study and article by Professor Peter Molk highlighted in this week’s New York Business Divorce and accompanying interview of Professor Molk on the Business Divorce Roundtable podcast.
Continue Reading Professor Peter Molk’s Groundbreaking Study of How LLC Owners Contract Around Default Statutory Protections

This week’s New York Business Divorce highlights a trio of recent decisions involving LLC disputes concerning the membership rights of the estate of a deceased member, the intended purpose of the LLC as the basis for a dissolution claim, and the power to expel a member.
Continue Reading LLC Case Notes: Member Expulsion, Withdrawal, and LLC Purpose

An unusual, two-state battle between 50-50 owners of a New York LLC led to a decision earlier this month by Justice Kornreich dismissing a dissolution petition and denying injunctive relief following a New Jersey judge’s order appointing a fifth Director to break a Board deadlock. This week’s New York Business Divorce has the story.
Continue Reading Court Dismisses Dissolution Petition Amidst Multi-Jurisdictional Battle for Control of LLC