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 . . .

This week’s New York Business Divorce features a recent decision in which the court addressed novel issues — and found guidance in Delaware case law — in a shareholder derivative action challenging compensation packages given to officer/directors.
Continue Reading Navigating Rocky Shoals and Safe Harbors When Board Members Fix Their Own Compensation

This week’s New York Business Divorce looks at a noteworthy decision by Manhattan Commercial Division Justice O. Peter Sherwood in which he dismissed claims by a minority member of Delaware LLCs for inspection of books and records. …
Continue Reading Books and Records Case Illustrates Crucial Importance of Pre-Suit Demand

It’s common practice to convert old realty-holding general partnerships to LLCs for financing and liability purposes. Given that partnerships and LLCs are distinct entity forms governed by distinct statutes, can a pre-conversion partnership agreement nonetheless be enforced among the post-conversion LLC members? Find out in this week’s New York Business Divorce. …
Continue Reading It’s a Partnership! No, It’s an LLC! No, It’s Both!

This week’s New York Business Divorce previews and links to the latest podcast episode of the Business Divorce Roundtable featuring an interview with retired Commercial Division Justice Carolyn Demarest in which we discuss the litigation and mediation of business divorce cases.
Continue Reading Interview With Justice Carolyn Demarest (Ret.) on Litigating and Mediating Business Divorce Cases

Sometimes the tax collector can prove the bigger impediment to minority shareholder claims than the majority shareholders, as explained in this week’s New York Business Divorce featuring a recent case involving a Delaware corporation whose charter was voided for nonpayment of taxes.
Continue Reading Minority Shareholders’ Derivative Suit Foiled by Voiding of Corporation’s Charter for Nonpayment of Taxes

The Latin maxim, “equity aids the vigilant, not those who slumber on their rights,” steals the show in this week’s New York Business Divorce featuring a recent New Jersey appellate ruling affirming the dismissal of a challenge to the conversion of a limited partnership to an LLC.
Continue Reading In Dispute Over Partnership’s Conversion to LLC, Court Finds No Duty to “Spoon-Feed” Sophisticated Investor

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?

The minority and majority owners of a Brooklyn-based vodka distillery duke it out in the case examined in this week’s New York Business Divorce centering on the proper construction of provisions in a Founders Agreement concerning the right to, and consequences of, terminating a founder.
Continue Reading Then There Were Two: Court Rejects Minority Shareholder’s Claim of Wrongful Termination Under Founders Agreement