News & Analysis as of

Business Litigation Fiduciary Duty Breach of Duty

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty: A More “Lenient Standard” for Damages?

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

If Sisyphus were a judge, he’d be assigned the Fuks case. Fuks began on December 26, 1996. Fire up your mental time machine, travel back in time, and picture what was going on in your life those many years ago....more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Commercial Division Reiterates That It’s Not a Rubber Stamp for CPLR 3215 Default Motions: Movant Must Set Forth Prima Facie...

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Commercial Division litigators are keenly aware of CPLR 3215’s proof requirements. We can recite in our sleep the need to submit (1) proof of service, (2) proof of default, (3) the amount due, and (4) facts constituting the...more

Jones Day

Court of Chancery Grants Rare Motion to Dismiss Suit Governed by Entire Fairness Standard

Jones Day on

The electric vehicle company Canoo went public in a de-SPAC transaction in December 2020. After its stock price fell, a stockholder in the SPAC who chose not to redeem his stock sued the SPAC board and its controller for...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Limo Company Shareholders Can't Hitch a Ride in Derivative Litigation

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Closely-held business entities come in all shapes and sizes. By definition, under Partnership Law § 10, it takes “two or more” owners to form a general partnership. But corporations and LLCs have no such impediment, ranging...more

Mayer Brown

In re Match Group, Inc.: Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Controlling Stockholder Transactions

Mayer Brown on

In a recent decision, the Delaware Supreme Court clarified the proper standard to apply to a non-freeze-out merger transaction involving a controlling stockholder. Litigators who practice in the Delaware Court of Chancery are...more

Conyers

Trustee's Duty and Anti-Bartlett Clauses - The Ivanishvilli Redux

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Just when trustees are feeling safe to go back into the water after the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal spoke in Zhang Hong Li v. DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd [2019] along comes Ivanishvilli v. Credit Suisse Trust Ltd [2023]...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Enforcing the Guardrails on Transactions Involving Interested Directors of Close Corporations

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

In my business divorce practice I deal with many closely held corporations that have only a few or perhaps just two shareholders, each of whom is actively involved in running the business. Within that category are many...more

Dechert LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery’s Rescission of Elon Musk’s US$55.8 Billion Pay Package Signals Expansion of Scrutiny into Potential...

Dechert LLP on

The Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial opinion, on January 30, 2024, in Tornetta v. Musk, holding that Tesla’s board of directors (the “Board”) breached its fiduciary duties in awarding CEO Elon Musk (with the...more

Gray Reed

A Breach of Fiduciary Duty in the Oil Patch

Gray Reed on

Antero Resources Corp. v. C & R Downhole Drilling, Inc. et al, proves again the extreme risk when one bites the hand that feeds him (shoutout to Greek poet Sappho, 600 BCE). Antero sued former employee Kawsak and his...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The First State Defines the Scope of Majority Shareholder Fiduciary Duties

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

More often than not, the centerpiece of an intra-owner business dispute is a claim that those in control of the business breached their fiduciary duties to the company or the minority owners.  While often easy to assert, the...more

Adams and Reese LLP

Operation Litigation: Top Tips if Your Business is Threatened with a Lawsuit

Adams and Reese LLP on

We continue to provide legal resources for our military veterans returning to the workplace in our monthly “Vets to Ventures” series. Previously, we have discussed how skills acquired in the military translate into becoming a...more

Troutman Pepper

Delaware Court of Chancery Clarifies Fiduciary Limitations on Controlling Stockholder's Exercise of Voting Power

Troutman Pepper on

In a landmark decision, the Delaware Court of Chancery addressed, for the first time, the precise duties that a controlling stockholder owes, and the standard of review that will apply, when a controlling stockholder takes...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Parallel Business and Matrimonial Divorce Proceedings

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Parallel business divorce proceedings in the same or different courts alleging overlapping or duplicative claims are common. When it occurs, judges must often determine whether to dispose of one so the other may proceed...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

The Delaware Court of Chancery Confirms that Duty of Oversight Claims Against Corporate Officers Are Subject to the Same High...

In Segway Inc. v. Hong Cai, 2023 Del. Ch. LEXIS 643 (Del. Ch. Dec. 14, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery (Will, V.C.) dismissed a claim for breach of fiduciary duty brought by Segway Inc. (the “Company”) against its...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Top 10 Business Divorce Cases of 2023

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Some years are easier than others to select the most significant business divorce cases. In this, the 16th year I’ve published this top-10 list, the task is made especially difficult by a veritable flood of court decisions...more

Hogan Lovells

Gandhi-Kapoor v. Hone Capital, LLC: Court issues US$1,000-a-day Order to Enforce Advancement Order

Hogan Lovells on

In Gandhi-Kapoor v. Hone Capital, LLC, No. 2022-0881-JTL (Del. Ch. July 19, 2023), the Delaware Court of Chancery held respondents Hone Capital LLC and certain related companies in contempt for failing to either object to or...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Potent Combo: Misappropriation of Corporate Opportunity Meets Faithless Servant

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Misappropriation of corporate opportunity is one of our favorite, most frequently blogged topics on New York Business Divorce. A special kind of breach of fiduciary duty, the corporate opportunity doctrine holds that...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Private Company Compliance: Investigations, Regulations, and Litigation

Foley & Lardner LLP on

We recently co-hosted an NACD “Private Company Compliance” webinar on the issues that directors of private companies should care about. In this episode, we focused on the increasing importance of supervising the...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.

Surrogate’s Court Jurisdiction to Resolve Close Business Owner Disputes

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Do New York’s Surrogate’s Courts have jurisdiction to compel an accounting related to a non-party limited liability company in which the decedent’s estate has only a minority interest? ...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

At-Will Employment Agreement Plus Mandatory Redemption Clause Leaves Minority Shareholder-Employees Out in the Cold

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

MiniCorp has five shareholders, all of whom are employees.  Each shareholder’s employment agreement states that they are an at-will employee of MiniCorp, and the shareholders agreement provides that when a shareholder’s...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Delaware Court of Chancery Clarifies Heightened Standard for Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees in Disclosure-Based Deal Litigation

In Anderson v. Magellan Health, Inc., No. 2021-0202, — A.3d —-, 2023 WL 4364524 (Del. Ch. July 6, 2023) (McCormick, C.), the Delaware Court of Chancery addressed the circumstances under which the Court will award a...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Can One 50% Shareholder Sue the Other in the Company Name on the Company Dollar? Answer: It Depends

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

In the menagerie of closely held companies, those owned and controlled by 50/50 business partners pose unique benefits and challenges. On the benefit side, co-equal ownership and control can foster cooperation,...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Court Finds Mindbody CEO Liable Under Revlon and That Buyer Aided and Abetted Disclosure Violations

In March 2023, the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a rare decision holding an officer personally liable for damages for breach of fiduciary duty under a post-closing Revlon enhanced scrutiny analysis. Specifically, the...more

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