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Business Divorce Minority Shareholders

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Prudent Management or Financial Starvation: Can Minority Members Compel the Majority to Make Distributions?

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

“It all started when the distributions stopped.”  In my travels as a business divorce litigator, I’ve seen many disputes between LLC co-owners that begin with that message.  A minority owner is content to remain a “silent...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Summer Shorts: An Unusual Application of LLC Law § 608 and Other Decisions of Interest

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Welcome to this 14th annual edition of Summer Shorts. This year’s edition features brief commentary on three recent decisions by New York courts in business divorce cases. The featured cases involve a suit pitting three...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

My Partner Just Sued Me: Strategies Majority Owners Should Consider in Defending Claims Filed by Private Company Investors

Conflicts between co-owners in private companies are common, but the vast majority are worked out through dialogue and negotiation. When these internal conflicts cannot be resolved, however, minority investors may file suit...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Opening Up the Business Partner Time Capsule: Partnership Lessons Shared by Owners and Investors

Hindsight can be a wonderful thing, especially if hard-earned lessons are adopted by others who are willing to learn from past mistakes. When private company owners and investors share with me some of the wisdom they have...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Winter Case Notes: Murder, Forgery, Accidental Death, Oppression, Oh My!

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Welcome to this year’s Winter Case Notes where, amidst the arctic blast currently sweeping most of the nation, I offer shortish takes on several court decisions in recent business divorce cases. This year’s edition...more

DarrowEverett LLP

Buyouts of Closely Held Shares: All’s Fair Value in Love and War

DarrowEverett LLP on

In matters of corporate divorce, deadlock, majority oppression, or usurpation of corporate opportunities are all well-tread grounds for disputes between co-owners of closely held entities. These disputes often culminate in...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Driving Between the Lines: As a Private Company Majority Owner, What Are the Rules for Dealing with Minority Business Partners

The one who has the gold often makes all the rules, but the majority owner of a private company who has minority partners in the business does not have complete freedom, because majority owners owe duties that apply to their...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Bad Things Can Happen When You Steal a Business from a Minority Co-Owner

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Occasionally, we come across court cases in which the majority owners so egregiously mistreated their minority co-owners that it’s difficult not to write about it — if only as a lesson in what not to do to separate oneself as...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Eastland Redux: Do Close Corporation Shareholders Have a Direct Claim Against Directors For Taking Disguised Distributions?

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Earlier this year, using as a springboard the Maryland intermediate appellate court’s decision in Eastland Food Corp. v Mekhaya, I posted about a topic on which there’s little or no New York law, viz., whether a complaint for...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

When Is It Too Late to Sue for Shareholder Oppression?

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Potential client sits down with business divorce lawyer and says, “I’m a minority shareholder in XYZ Corp. I’ve been completely frozen out by the majority. Can you help me?” The lawyer says, “Absolutely. New York law gives...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Issues to Consider in a Business Divorce

It may be a reflection of summer’s lazy days or a simmering frustration that has built up over time, but it is not uncommon for a majority owner or a minority investor in a private company to decide the time has come to...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

The Hazards of 'Weaponizing' Capital Call and Dilution Provisions

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

There are many ways that an owner of a closely-held business can use their superior financial resources to gain an advantage over their co-owners in a dispute. One common way is the use of a capital call provision to dilute...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The Time to Say Goodbye to Your Business Partner: When Subtraction Results in Addition for the Company

Successful private company owners often share the traits of having vision, passion and a strong sense of purpose. That does not mean that they govern their companies without having any disagreements with their minority...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Cross-Country Road Trip of Elections to Purchase in Dissolution Proceedings

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

When a minority shareholder petitions for dissolution of a corporation on the grounds of oppressive or illegal conduct (see BCL 1104-a), Section 1118 of New York’s Business Corporation Law allows the corporation or any other...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Has the Bloom Come Off the Rose? It May Be Time to Pull the Plug on Your Private Equity Investment

Private growth companies have ups and downs – only rocket ships tend to go straight up. Therefore, it can be difficult for an investor holding a minority stake in a private company to know whether a challenging time for the...more

Robson & Robson, P.C.

Pennsylvania’s Alternative Path For Minority Shareholders Who Can’t Pass Federal Rule Of Civil Procedure 23.1’s “Adequate...

Robson & Robson, P.C. on

When shareholders of a company believe the leaders of the company have breached their fiduciary duties to it, they can bring a lawsuit against those leaders in one of two ways. Shareholders can bring the suit in their own...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Minority Shareholder’s Petition to Dissolve Seltzer Business Loses Its Fizz

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

In 1950, Sam Hoffman and his two sons, Hyman and Melvin, founded Brooklyn-based Cornell Beverages, Inc. to manufacture and distribute seltzer. Those were the days when “seltzer men” made weekly home deliveries of cases of...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

It’s Time to Address Sex Discrimination Against Women Owners of Closely Held Companies, Say These Two Law Professors

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Longtime readers of this blog may recall a post I wrote three years ago titled Minority Shareholder Oppression in the #MeToo Era. The post highlighted an apparent first-of-its-kind decision in a judicial dissolution case...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A New Stile: First Department Shakes Up the Shareholder Oppression Claim

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

A watershed moment or a forgettable outlier?  It is often difficult to predict how much a novel decision will impact the body of laws governing closely-held corporations and their shareholders.  Decisions that seem the most...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

But What of the Equitable Accounting?

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

I can’t say what the number is, but my own experience tells me that a significant percentage of lawsuits by a minority owner of a closely-held company against those in control of the company include a demand for an...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The Minority Shareholder’s Arrows Are Still Sharp in the Quiver: Claims Available to Oppressed Minority Shareholders under Texas...

The seven-year anniversary of the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Ritchie v. Rupee has come and gone, and the court’s holding from 2014 remains the law: Minority shareholders in Texas private companies do not have a cause...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Buy-Sell Agreements May Not Be the Holy Grail, But They Can Help Limit Headache and Heartache

Disagreements are common between business partners in private companies, but most do not lead to a partner exit. When partner conflicts become severe enough to warrant a business divorce, however, majority owners and minority...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Episode 23: LLCs as They Approach the 50-Year Milestone: A Conversation with Professor Susan Pace Hamill

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

This episode features an interview with Professor Susan Pace Hamill, a leading authority and commentator on the origins and evolution of the limited liability company. We talk about her latest law review article entitled Some...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Nutmeg State Out Front on Member Inspection Rights Under RULLCA

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

For the second time in two years, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ventured into uncharted waters of LLC governance under the Revised Uniform LLC Act which, to date, has been adopted by 22 states and awaits legislative...more

Winstead PC

Litigating Minority Shareholder Rights - Presentation

Winstead PC on

David F. Johnson presented his paper “Business Divorce: Minority Shareholder Rights In Texas” to the State Bar of Texas’s Business Disputes Course on September 2-3, 2021. This presentation addressed shareholder oppression...more

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