Business Divorce Stories is the title of the latest episode of the Business Divorce Roundtable podcast highlighted in this week’s post, featuring short interviews with business appraiser Tony Cotrupe and attorney Jeffrey Eilender sharing their first-hand accounts of business divorce cases involving break-ups of two businesses, each co-owned by a pair of brothers.
Continue Reading Business Divorce Stories: Podcast Interviews with Business Appraiser Tony Cotrupe and Attorney Jeffrey Eilender

This 7th annual edition of Summer Shorts presents brief commentary on three must-read decisions in business divorce cases involving the use of special litigation committees in derivative actions by LLC members; dissolution of a family-owned real estate holding corporation and LLC; and a Delaware case in which Chancery Court ordered dissolution of a deadlocked LLC co-owned by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
Continue Reading Summer Shorts: Three Must-Read Decisions

This week’s New York Business Divorce travels to the Land of 10,000 Lakes a/k/a Minnesota where a recent court decision in a high-stakes stock valuation case generated some fairly sharp criticism of the expert appraisers whose values differed by almost 400%.
Continue Reading Appraisers’ Valuations Are Light-Years Apart, But Does That Make Them Hired Guns?

This week’s New York Business Divorce previews and links to the latest podcast episode of the Business Divorce Roundtable featuring an interview with business evaluator Jaime d’Almeida on the important subject of forensic analyses in valuation.
Continue Reading Forensic Analyses in Valuation: Interview With Jaime d’Almeida of Duff & Phelps

New Jersey’s approach to the marketability discount in statutory fair value cases has been called a “business appraiser’s nightmare.” A recent decision by a New Jersey trial court, in which it applied a 25% marketability discount to penalize a 50% owner found guilty of oppression against the other 50% owner, adds fuel to the debate. Check it out in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Has New Jersey Gone Off Its DLOM Rocker?

It’s time for another deep dive into fair value jurisprudence, courtesy of Justice Richard Platkin’s recent decision in the Digeser v. Flach case in which he addresses a number of valuation issues contested by the opposing business appraisal experts. Don’t miss it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Business Appraisers Spar Over Tax Rates, Market Approach and Other Key Issues in Fair Value Buy-Out Case

New York’s statutes authorizing a judicial dissolution petition by oppressed minority shareholders, and granting respondents a corresponding right to elect to purchase the petitioner’s shares, include a provision for a “surcharge” upon controlling shareholders for wrongful dissipation or transfer of corporate assets. It’s a rarely litigated provision, as evidenced by a court decision last month which may be the first ever reported case in which a surcharge claim was upheld. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading The Elusive Surcharge in Dissolution Proceedings

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