Four sisters. One house. Who owns it?
Today’s case delves into a thorny situation many closely-held family businesses struggle with—proving ownership.
It’s no secret that many closely-held family business do not comply with corporate formalities. In the absence of such formalities, it can be difficult to demonstrate ownership without stock certificates in hand, or other
This week in New York Business Divorce, read about yet another attempted bequest in a last will and testament of a valuable business interest foiled by a buy-sell provision in the entity’s contract. We’ll summarize some of the rules of law courts use to resolve the conflict.
Continue Reading A Gift Horse with Rotten Teeth: When Equity Bequests Violate Transfer Restrictions or Buy-Sell Agreements
Oral joint venture agreements tend to be the murkiest, easiest to allege, and difficult to disprove of all closely-held business relations. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Oral Joint Ventures: The Wild West of Business Associations
In this week’s New York Business Divorce, read about the history and development of the doctrine of tax estoppel, including two strands of competing case law emanating from a pair of New York State Court of Appeals decisions reaching opposite conclusions about the extent to which one may prove ownership status in a closely-held business based upon estoppel.
Continue Reading The Doctrine of Tax Estoppel in Ownership Status Disputes
May the executor of a deceased LLC member’s estate sue derivatively on behalf of the LLC? Find out in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Operating Agreement Dooms Derivative Claims by Deceased LLC Member’s Estate
Pappas v. Schatz, recently decided by Justice Melvin Schweitzer, is a postscript to the more famous Pappas v. Tzolis case decided by New York’s highest court in late 2012 concerning a disputed buy-out of LLC membership interests. Get the story in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Pappas v. Tzolis: A Revealing Epilogue
A recent decision by Justice Marcy Friedman draws attention to a somewhat rare breed of minority shareholder oppression involving the controlling shareholder’s repudiation of the petitioner’s stock ownership. It’s a case you won’t want to miss, in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Is Denial of Shareholder Status Shareholder Oppression?
This week’s New York Business Divorce rings in the New Year with its fifth annual list of the past year’s ten most significant business divorce cases, also providing short summaries and links to prior posts on the featured cases. Happy New Year!
Continue Reading Top Ten Business Divorce Cases of 2012
Last week’s Court of Appeals decision in Pappas v. Tzolis completes a trilogy of recent decisions by that court dismissing fiduciary breach claims by disappointed sellers concerning buy-out agreements that contain releases or waivers of fiduciary duty. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Pappas Saga Ends, Court of Appeals Upholds Fiduciary Waiver in LLC Buy-Out Agreement
The New York Court of Appeals heard oral argument this month of an appeal from the Appellate Division, First Department’s split decision in Pappas v. Tzolis pitting fiduciary duty against contractual waiver in the context of an intra-member buy-out of LLC membership interests. This week’s New York Business Divorce provides highlights of the oral argument and links to the argument’s webcast, the parties’ briefs, and other background materials.
Continue Reading Does Waiver Trump Fiduciary Duty? Court of Appeals Hears Argument in Pappas v. Tzolis