This is the first in what I hope will be a recurring feature of this podcast featuring war stories told by business divorce professionals. In this episode we hear stories from business appraiser Tony Cotrupe (Meliora...more
9/8/2017
/ Appraisal ,
Business Divorce ,
Business Ownership ,
Buyers ,
Buyouts ,
C-Corporation ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Dissolution ,
Division of Assets ,
Fair Market Value ,
Forensic Examination ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Operating Agreements ,
Sellers ,
Valuation
Regular readers of this blog know it’s been anything but summer doldrums in the world of business divorce, what with case law developments such as the Appellate Division’s potentially far-reaching ruling on the purposeless...more
Over the years I’ve litigated and observed countless cases of alleged oppression of minority shareholders by the majority. Oppression can take endlessly different forms, some more crude than others in their execution, some...more
A business’s failure to pay state taxes can be a problem if the entity later wants to bring a lawsuit, or its non-controlling owners want to sue on the entity’s behalf....more
Civil litigation in federal court can be a luxury experience. The quality of the judiciary is superb. Federal judges often give their cases substantial individualized attention. Lawsuits progress relatively quickly. The...more
At first glance, you might think the plaintiff minority shareholder in Sardis v Sardis, 2017 NY Slip Op 27163 [Sup Ct Suffolk County May 11, 2017], achieved her derivative lawsuit’s goal when the defendant controlling...more
The rules of “standing” in business divorce litigation generally require that the plaintiff have an ownership interest in the business entity at the time of the alleged wrongful conduct and, for derivative claims brought on...more
Article 11 of the Business Corporation Law governs dissolution of closely held New York business corporations. Article 11 has existed, more or less in its current form, for decades. Some of its provisions have been heavily...more
4/17/2017
/ Breach of Contract ,
Breach of Duty ,
Buy-Out Agreements ,
Corporate Dissolution ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraud ,
Minority Shareholders ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Tortious Interference ,
Unjust Enrichment
It’s true that the statutory and common-law rules at play in business divorce cases can vary widely from state to state. But it’s also true that court decisions in one state can influence courts in other states, and can...more
I can count on one hand the number of federal court cases I’ve featured on this blog since I started it almost 10 years ago — and that’s no coincidence....more
An earlier post on this blog, examining a post-trial decision in Matter of Digeser v Flach, 2015 NY Slip Op 51609(U) [Sup Ct Albany County Nov. 5, 2015], described the minority shareholder’s dissolution claim under Section...more
Welcome to another edition of Winter Case Notes in which I clear out my backlog of recent court decisions of interest to business divorce aficionados by way of brief synopses with links to the decisions for those who wish to...more
In a controversial ruling last year in Congel v Malfitano, the Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed and modified in part a post-trial judgment against a former 3.08% partner in a general partnership that owns an...more
There’s little doubt in my mind that “business divorce” has achieved name recognition as a distinct subgenre of commercial litigation whose regular practitioners, by dint of experience dealing in and out of court with the...more
1/10/2017
/ Appraisal ,
Business Entities ,
Business Valuations ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Dissolution ,
Dissolution ,
Freeze-Out Mergers ,
Internal Controls ,
Jurisdiction ,
Mergers ,
Reverse Stock Splits
I’m pleased to present my 9th annual list of this past year’s ten most significant business divorce cases. The list includes important appellate rulings by the First and Second Departments on dissolution of foreign business...more
12/27/2016
/ Appeals ,
Appraisal ,
Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Dissolution ,
Derivative Suit ,
Enabling Laws ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
First Impression ,
Foreign Business Partners ,
Foreign Entities ,
Jurisdiction ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
LLC Agreements ,
Merger Agreements ,
NJ Supreme Court ,
Partnership Interests ,
Popular ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Shareholders' Agreements ,
Standing