shareholder oppression

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In a follow-up to last week’s New York Business Divorce, this week’s post addresses a second decision by Justice Saliann Scarpulla in the Yu family constellation of ilitigations, this time considering the fatal effects on standing to sue for statutory dissolution by assigning one’s stock voting rights.
Continue Reading Stock Pledge Agreement Defeats Minority Shareholder’s Standing to Sue for Statutory But Not Common-Law Dissolution

In a rare dissolution decision from the New York Surrogate’s Court – a court for the affairs of the deceased – the court declines to kill off a clothing business based upon a claim of oppression brought by the estate of the former minority shareholder. Read about it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Surrogate’s Court Declines to Order Demise of Fashion Business

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 . . .

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?

A shareholder dispute spanning seven years of litigation in New York and Delaware came to an end last week with the latter state’s highest court’s refusal to rehear the case. This week’s New York Business Divorce highlights two of the many issues raised along the way: whether Delaware law recognizes a common-law claim for minority shareholder oppression, and the validity of a reverse stock split and cash-out of the minority shareholder that deprived her of standing to pursue derivative claims. …
Continue Reading Business Divorce Case Reaches End of Long and Winding Road

Do majority shareholders of a close corporation owe a fiduciary duty to a minority shareholder to make accurate financial disclosures to enable fair valuation of the latter’s shares for purposes of a voluntary buy-out? Find out in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Blurring the Lines Between Oppression, Duty of Disclosure, and Fiduciary Breach

Tom Rutledge, one of the country’s leading lawyers and commentators on business organizations, recently published a fascinating article on minority shareholder oppression in which he challenges whether courts ought to provide remedies for terminated at-will employees who also happen to be minority shareholders. Read about it in this week’s New York Business Divorce. …
Continue Reading You’re Fired! No, I’m Oppressed!

A must-read decision last week by Justice Elizabeth Emerson in Federico v Brancato highlights the unique attributes and challenges of resolving conflicts within family-owned businesses. You won’t want to miss it in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading When Parents Have to Choose: Succession Planning and the Family-Owned Business