It’s that time of year again! This 12th annual edition of Summer Shorts presents brief commentary on five recent decisions of interest in business divorce cases in the New York courts.
Continue Reading Summer Shorts: LLC Dissolution and Other Recent Decisions of Interest
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
Minority shareholder oppression on steroids is one way to describe what happened in Matter of Twin Bay Village, Inc., in which an upstate appellate panel recently affirmed an order dissolving the corporation and setting aside a stock issuance that diluted the minority shareholders. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading And the Award For Most Oppressive Conduct By a Majority Shareholder Goes to . . .
A long-running litigation battle between a technology and marketing company and its minority shareholder investors took yet another twist last week when the Appellate Division, First Department, reversed a lower court order upholding the company’s cancellation of the minority shares and the loss of their preemptive rights. Get the full story in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Appellate Court Cancels Corporation’s Cancellation of Minority Shares
A recent appellate decision in Armentano v. Paraco Gas Corp. reinstated a minority shareholder’s complaint charging the controlling shareholders with diluting his stake by issuing treasury shares to themselves. It’s in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Minority Shareholder Wins Appeal Challenging Grant of “Bonus” Treasury Shares to Controlling Shareholders
The attorney who prepares a shareholders’ agreement without documenting exactly whom the attorney does and doesn’t represent, and without appropriate disclosure of conflicts when representing multiple shareholders with divergent interests, is asking for trouble, at least, that’s the lesson to be drawn from a recent decision by Justice Carolyn Demarest in Schlissel v. Subramanian, featured in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading The Importance of Identifying Your Client — And Who’s Not Your Client — When Preparing Shareholder Agreements
The baseball season is upon us but there’s no joy in Mudville or, at least, at the Cooperstown All Stars Village baseball camp where the co-owners of a limited liability company are playing hardball litigation. The Third Department umpire recently called a preliminary injunction in favor of the non-controlling team after the controlling member pitched a high-and-inside capital call. Read about it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Court Enjoins “Squeeze-Out” Capital Call by Controlling Members of LLC
Have room for one more 2008 top-10 list? This week’s New York Business Divorce highlights the 10 most interesting business divorce cases from last year, with updated case citations and links to previous write-ups.
Continue Reading Top 10 Business Divorce Cases of 2008
This week’s New York Business Divorce looks at a recent decision by Justice Herman Cahn addressing the fiduciary duties of a controlling shareholder who authorizes and issues additional shares to himself without offering the same opportunity to minority shareholders.
Continue Reading Controlling Shareholder’s Dilution of Minority Interest Requires Bona Fide Business Purpose