The Informed Board Podcast | CEO Succession Planning on a Clear Day
Business Better Podcast Episode: Investing in the New Mainstream Economy - A Conversation with Palladium Equity Partners
Business Succession Planning Podcast with Janathan Allen
Incapacity and Succession Planning for Closely Held Businesses and the People Who Operate Them
Stoel Rives | Deeply Rooted Podcast Episode Five: Exploring Succession and Generational Change with Kevin Adams, Managing Director for The Mountain Group
THE ACCIDENTAL ENTREPRENEUR PART V video
THE ACCIDENTAL ENTREPRENEUR PART V Podcast
THE ACCIDENTAL ENTREPRENEUR PART IV
Exploring Digital Asset Planning and Estate Administration With Author Sharon Hartung – Part One
Podcast: Key ESG Considerations for Family Offices and Foundations
Digital Planning Podcast: Digital Assets in Divorce, Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements, Families and Minors
Estate Planning & Family Law: How To Protect Your Assets For Future Generations
Episode 7: Conflict in the Family-Owned Business: A Conversation with Professor Benjamin Means
Recent Trends in Succession & Estate Planning
How Do I Prepare to Sell My Business?
Stealth Lawyer: Mark Russ Federman, Appetizing Shop Owner
Imagine for a moment that you’re a shareholder in a closely held corporation. In most jurisdictions, that status as a shareholder obligates you to a heightened fiduciary duty to your fellow shareholders. Now imagine that your...more
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
Family-owned businesses can be an optimal means for transferring and preserving family wealth. When the family works cooperatively in their respective best interests to run and manage their businesses and assets efficiently,...more
In Trench Tech Int’l, Inc. v. Tech Con Trenching, Inc., the son of an owner of a company, who was an employee, downloaded design plans and other information and went to another company who used that information. No....more
A year and a half ago, we blogged about a decision in which Bronx County Supreme Court Justice Llinet M. Rosado ruled that a shareholder’s alleged stock transfer through a bequest in his last will and testament was...more
A number of lawsuits have percolated through New York’s courts over the past five years between Adam Max, son of world-renowned visual artist Peter Max, and Adam’s sister, Libra, over control and management of the family...more
One of the fundamental principles of corporate law is that the owners, directors and officers of a corporate entity generally are not personally responsible for the entity’s debts. Without this insulation from personal...more
In the recent Texas case of Trinh v. Cent. River Healthcare Grp., a pair of siblings engaged in a legal dispute over whether one sibling had breached a fiduciary duty in the management of a PLLC. NO. 03-19-00393-CV (Tex. App....more
This is the eighth article in our series on selling the family business. Our previous articles include advance planning, preliminary diligence, marketing, letters of intent, indemnification provisions, backstopping the deal,...more
There’s tremendous diversity from state-to-state when it comes to statutory and judge-made law in business divorce cases. The basic fact patterns one sees in cases from across the country, however, don’t vary nearly as much....more
Fiduciary duties are applicable to all businesses, family businesses included. In simple terms, a fiduciary duty is an obligation to act in the best interest of another party. For example, an attorney has a fiduciary duty to...more
During the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place orders, many topics arose related to disputes among members of closely held businesses. When the interests of the owners diverge and litigation results, a variety of issues...more
I’ve yet to see him make a court appearance, and hope I never do, but the Grim Reaper sure has a knack for disrupting business divorce litigation involving LLCs and limited partnerships....more
In recent years it has become more common to grant multiple parties various powers over trust property within a trust. Of course there is still a trustee, owing the classic fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries, but now trusts...more
Leaders of closely held businesses got an opportunity to view a family-owned enterprise as an outsider would, instead of their usual position inside a company. Ward and Smith's 2019 Closely Held Business Summit featured a...more
I’m very pleased to present my 11th annual list of this past year’s ten most significant business divorce cases. This year’s list includes four important appellate decisions, including one likely to stand as a landmark...more
One of the philosophies of the world-famous Palm restaurant is to treat guests like family. That philosophy may need to be re-examined in light of a recent decision by the New York Supreme Court in Ganzi v. Ganzi, a case...more
Businesses and the families that own them are each “governed” by a structure and set of rules. Often, that structure is informal and the rules unwritten, vague and inconsistently applied. This creates a virtual breeding...more
Often, a closely-held company comprises a large portion of a person’s wealth. In some instances, the company initially generated much of the person’s wealth. And in others, the company is formed as a vehicle to pass wealth...more
Much digital ink has been spilled on this blog and elsewhere (Tom Rutledge’s terrific article can be read) concerning the ability of LLC controllers to adopt or amend an operating agreement without the consent of all members....more
The family-owned business at the center of Vaccari v Vaccari, 2018 NY Slip Op 30546(U) [Sup Ct NY County Mar. 28, 2018], decided last month by veteran Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Eileen Bransten, is a classic...more
A little over three years ago I reported on the first round of a fascinating “food fight” among four siblings, each of whom is a 25% shareholder of a Brooklyn-based, second-generation food distributor known as Jersey Lynne...more
The prior Family Business Advocates blog post provided an overview of the different legal roles that shareholders, directors, and officers play in the intersection of ownership and management of a company, but how does a...more
If you are a family business owner in Washington who wants to place control of your business in the hands of a trustee until your beneficiaries are ready to assume control, or for other reasons, a recent change in Washington...more
June Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts The June § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs...more