If you’re going to require super-majority consent as to certain business decisions in a shareholder or operating agreement, be sure to draft clearly so as to leave no room for potential litigation over the level of required consent. That’s the lesson of Herbert v Schodack Exit Ten, LLC, decided earlier this month by an upstate appellate panel and highlighted in this week’s New York Business Divorce.
Continue Reading Unanimous Vote Requirement in LLC Agreement Turns on Meaning of “Commitment”

“Is she or isn’t she a shareholder? Only her tax preparer knows for sure.” It may not be quite as catchy as the famous Clairol commercial, but it’s a good entreaty to read this week’s New York Business Divorce highlighting a recent appellate ruling in a dissolution case in which the petitioner unsuccessfully relied on tax returns to prove his shareholder status.
Continue Reading Form K-1s Do Not Always a Shareholder Make

Last week the Appellate Division, Third Department, handed down its second ruling in four months in cases involving dueling dissolution petitions. Its latest decision, in Matter of Clever Innovations, Inc., affirms the denial of a deadlock petition and the grant of a compulsory buy-out based on an oppressed shareholder petition. It’s in this week’s New York Business Divorce.

Continue Reading Dueling Dissolution Petitions Lead to Forced Buy-Out of 50% Shareholder

When it comes to documenting ownership of closely held corporations, as Art Linkletter would have said, shareholders do the darndest things. There’s no better illustration of this than Matter of Sunburst Associates, Inc. decided last week by the Appellate Division, Third Department, in a judicial dissolution proceeding brought by a putative 50% shareholder. This week’s New York Business Divorce has the story.

Continue Reading Inconsistent Documents and Conflicting Testimony Cloud Stock Ownership Issue in Corporate Dissolution Case

Dueling corporate dissolution petitions? The petitioner demanding that he be allowed to buy out the respondent? Sounds odd, but that’s what happened in Matter of Carson, decided last week by the Appellate Division, Third Department, and featured in this week’s New York Business Divorce.

Continue Reading The Case of the Dueling Dissolution Petitions: Who Can Buy Out Whom?

In a rare intersection of matrimonial and business divorce, last week the Appellate Division, Third Department, upheld the dismissal of an LLC dissolution proceeding brought by one spouse on the ground it was superseded by the other spouse’s prior-filed divorce action. But wait a minute; how can the court simply disregard the LLC as a separate entity? Read more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.

Continue Reading Court Decision Weds Business Divorce with Matrimonial Divorce

The issue of venue rarely is contested in corporate dissolution cases thanks to special venue provisions in the Business Corporation Law and the LLC Law that require the case to be filed in the judicial district listed in the organizational documents filed with the Secretary of State. This week’s New York Business Divorce reports on a rare exception which reached the Appellate Division, Third Department, in Matter of Supplier Distribution Concepts, Inc.

Continue Reading Vying Over Venue in Corporate Dissolution Proceedings

An appellate decision this month, in Matter of Eklund Farm Machinery, Inc., spotlights anew the inadequate statutory compensation scheme governing court-appointed receivers in corporate dissolution proceedings. It’s in this week’s New York Business Divorce.

Continue Reading Statute Constrains Commissions for Court-Appointed Receivers in Corporate Dissolution Proceedings

A decision last week by the Second Department highlights a split of authority among New York’s intermediate appellate courts whether New York courts have subject matter jurisdiction over petitions to dissolve foreign business entities. Learn more in this week’s New York Business Divorce.

Continue Reading Appellate Rulings Clash Over Subject Matter Jurisdiction to Dissolve Foreign Business Entities