If until now you haven’t encountered a case involving the “equitable” dissolution of a partnership, join the club. Find out more in this week’s New York Business Divorce which highlights a recent decision by Justice Stephan Bucaria in a 10-year litigation among the general partners of several limited partnerships governed by the outmoded Uniform Limited Partnership Act. …
Continue Reading Equitable Dissolution of Limited Partnerships

Shareholder and LLC agreements, like other contracts, frequently contain terms accompanied by the proviso, “notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement,” signaling that the term trumps all others. Read this week’s New York Business Divorce to learn about a recent First Department appellate ruling in Schepisi v. Roberts highlighting the mischief that can result from multiple, ” dueling” notwithstanding clauses.
Continue Reading LLC Agreement Falters from Dueling “Notwithstanding” Clauses

Derivative claims are frequently asserted in business divorce litigation. Within the last two months the Manhattan-based Appellate Division, First Department, issued three decisions addressing the demand futility requirement in derivative lawsuits involving Delaware and New York corporations, limited partnerships and LLCs. Get up to speed with this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Recent Appellate Rulings Address Demand Futility in Derivative Lawsuits

Common-law dissolution makes another rare appearance in a recent appellate ruling by the First Department in Gjuraj v. Uplift Elevator, which may be the only reported common-law dissolution case in which a plaintiff won at trial. Don’t miss it in this week’s New York Business Divorce. …
Continue Reading Successful Common-Law Dissolution Case Survives Appeal, But Remedy Limited to Buy-Out

The decision highlighted in this week’s New York Business Divorce may not be new, but it is one that deserves serious attention as a possible remedial template in deadlock dissolution cases, where one 50% owner with operational control uses it as a sword to force the other 50% owner to accept an under-valued buyout. …
Continue Reading How Should Courts Maximize Shareholder Value When Dissolving Deadlocked Companies?

Disputes over procedural issues are no less common in dissolution proceedings — and with consequences no less important — than in other types of civil litigation. This week’s New York Business Divorce samples a number of recent court decisions highlighting an array of procedural issues that come up in dissolution cases.
Continue Reading A Potpourri of Procedural Issues in Dissolution Cases

Decisions in lawsuits brought by minority members challenging LLC mergers are rare finds. This week’s New York Business Divorce highlights a recent decision in just such a case by Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Melvin Schweitzer, in which he denied a motion to dismiss an action seeking to set aside a merger involving a realty management company organized as a three-member LLC. You won’t want to miss it.
Continue Reading Action to Enjoin LLC Freeze-Out Merger Goes Forward

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

It’s a familiar story: Business partners have a falling out, and without the assistance of counsel prepare and sign on their own a written agreement that almost inevitably creates more problems than it solves. This week’s New York Business Divorce highlights a recent decision by Manhattan Justice Carol Edmead in which she …
Continue Reading Breaking Up Badly

A shareholder’s derivative action alleging misappropriation and waste by the controlling shareholders, filed in 2009, was scheduled for trial earlier this month. About three weeks before trial, the controlling shareholders initiated a freeze-out merger for the specific purpose of defeating the suing shareholder’s standing to maintain the action. Did it work? Find out in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Court Permits Freeze-Out Merger on Eve of Trial of Shareholder Derivative Action