Agreements providing for compulsory buyouts upon termination of a minority shareholder’s employment can be a good thing. Complications or sometimes litigation sets in, however, when termination for cause is linked to a devalued buyout formula, as illustrated in the case highlighted in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading The Hidden Cost of a Devalued Buyback Upon Termination for Cause

Once in a while, a case comes along to remind us to think twice before getting involved in expensive litigation between business partners over a defunct, insolvent company. Mazel Capital v. Laifer, recently decided by Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich is such a case. It’s in this week’s New York Business Divorce. …
Continue Reading Business Partners Fighting Over the Company’s Corpse

A recent First Department ruling in Sansum v. Fioratti is one of the few reported instances in which the defense of unclean hands was successfully asserted to defeat on the merits a minority shareholder’s claim for corporate dissolution. Read this week’s New York Business Divorce to find out more. …
Continue Reading Wash Hands Before Suing

A recent decision by Justice Vito DeStefano in Breidbart v Olshan offers valuable pleading tips and identifies pleading pitfalls for practitioners in crafting complaints in partnership disputes. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Decision Yields Hits and Misses for Plaintiff in Partnership Dissolution Case

In the absence of statutory authorization, a few courts have ordered equitable buy-outs in LLC dissolution cases. This week’s New York Business Divorce examines an important question in such cases: What valuation date should be used? …
Continue Reading Court-Ordered LLC Buy-Outs: What’s the Valuation Date?

The test for dissolution of an LLC includes whether its purpose as defined in the LLC agreement is no longer achievable. This week’s New York Business Divorce looks at cases, including a Delaware Chancery Court decision released days ago, in which courts have looked outside the agreement to determine the LLC’s purpose. …
Continue Reading Finding Purpose Outside the LLC Agreement

Surviving a dismissal motion in LLC dissolution cases can be affected by the form of the suit, i.e., whether brought as a special proceeding or as a plenary action. Find out more, and see how a dismissal motion played out in a recent decision by Manhattan Justice Ellen Coin, in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Surviving a Motion to Dismiss in LLC Dissolution Cases

The so-called “quick and dirty” business appraisal can serve a number of highly useful purposes in the early stages of a business divorce, as explained in this week’s New York Business Divorce. …
Continue Reading 5 Reasons to Get a “Quick-and-Dirty” Appraisal in Business Divorce Cases

Last week’s decision by a Manhattan appellate panel in Barone v. Sowers reaffirms its holding two years ago in Doyle v. Icon, LLC that a minority member of an LLC cannot solely rely on allegations of oppression by the majority member to survive a pretrial motion for dismissal of a dissolution claim. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Oppression Claims Don’t Cut It in LLC Dissolution Cases