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Operating Agreements Limited Liability Company (LLC) Fiduciary Duty

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Operating Agreement Doesn’t Excuse Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Many posts on The LLC Jungle blog have focused on the fiduciary duties owed by LLC managers to both the LLC’s members and the LLC itself. Other posts have focused on the pitfalls of LLC Operating Agreements that fail to...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

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

“Equitable Buyout” as a Remedy for LLC Wrongdoing?

In the world of LLCs, buyouts — where one member sells his/her membership interest to another member or the LLC itself — are commonplace. Buyouts generally fall into one of two categories: contractual — where the...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

LLC Operating Agreements: Indemnity, Arbitration, and Equity

LLC operating agreements frequently provide for indemnity to the LLC’s manager. This is consistent with the statutory default rule embodied by California Corporations Code section 17704.08(a), which provides for indemnity...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

What You Need to Know About Wisconsin's New LLC Laws

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On January 1, 2023, the revised Wisconsin business laws go into effect. Among the changes, is a complete overhaul of Chapter 183, leading to the creation of the Wisconsin Uniform Limited Liability Company Law (WULLCL). This...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Preparing for Wisconsin’s New Uniform Limited Liability Company Law

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Effective January 1, 2023, Wisconsin will have a new Uniform Limited Liability Company Law applicable to all Wisconsin limited liability companies (“LLCs”) unless existing LLCs opt out before December 31, 2022, with the...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

Diversion of LLC Funds Is Not “Protected Activity” Under California’s Anti-SLAPP Statute

California’s anti-SLAPP statute (Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16) aims to protect defendants from meritless lawsuits designed to chill “protected activity” — i.e., the exercise of rights of petition or free speech on...more

Ruder Ware

LLCs: The Next Generation Under Wisconsin Law

Ruder Ware on

Under new Wisconsin laws coming into effect soon, some important rules governing how limited liability companies (LLCs) operate will change. This article will describe some of the key changes, what LLC owners need to be...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

A Recurring Business Divorce Feature: Usurpation of Corporate Opportunity

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

One of the earliest signs that a closely-held business is headed for divorce lies in how its owners treat new opportunities. When the relationship among the owners reaches a certain level of distrust, an owner presented with...more

Hicks Johnson

The Importance of “Plain and Unambiguous Language” When Eliminating Fiduciary Duties in Delaware

Hicks Johnson on

The Delaware Limited Liability Company Act allows for the fiduciary duties of a member to be expanded, restricted, or eliminated by provisions in the operating agreement of a limited liability company (“LLC”). If drafters...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Gordon Ramsay’s The Fat Cow: Dishing Up Damages and Dissolution

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

You know you’re in big trouble if the post-trial decision in a lawsuit you filed begins like this: “The court finds the plaintiff, Rowen Seibel, not credible. This is primarily because it appears he fabricated evidence...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Thinking Ahead: Key Provisions to Consider When Drafting Entity Governing Documents

Robins Kaplan LLP on

A company’s governing documents, whether they be corporate bylaws and shareholder agreements, limited liability company (“LLC”) operating agreements, or partnership agreements, typically include the rules and regulations for...more

Hicks Johnson

Exculpation Provisions in LLC Agreements: A Comparison of Delaware and Texas

Hicks Johnson on

Case law involving limited liability companies (LLCs) is rapidly evolving. Some states, most notably Delaware, permit LLCs to limit or eliminate liability for breaches of fiduciary duty by an LLC’s members or managers. Other...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Assigning an Interest in an LLC

One of the goals in a business divorce is finality – ending a business relationship once and for all. But what if the end isn’t really the end?...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Revised Ohio LLC Statute

The Ohio Revised Limited Liability Company Act (“LLC Act”) took effect on February 11, 2022, and now governs all limited liability companies formed under Ohio law. The LLC Act replaced Chapter 1705 of the Ohio Revised Code...more

Allen Matkins

Do LLC Members Owe Fiduciary Duties? Yes And No

Allen Matkins on

Does a member of a limited liability company owe a fiduciary duty to the company and the other members?  Section 17704.09(a) of the California Corporations Code states that a member owes a duty of loyalty and a duty of care. ...more

Patton Sullivan Brodehl LLP

LLC Operating Agreements Can Reduce Fiduciary Duties

LLC managers owe fiduciary duties both to the LLC and to the LLC’s members, similar to the duties owed by a partner to other partners in a partnership.  (Corp Code §17704.09.)  These include the duty of loyalty, care, and...more

Gray Reed

Villareal v. Saenz: Fiduciary Duties Will Go On

Gray Reed on

In Villareal v. Saenz, a district court magistrate judge for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, has recognized that members exiting a limited liability company may continue to hold fiduciary duties despite...more

Morris James LLP

The Court of Chancery Provides Guidance on Whether Deprivation of an LLC Member’s Contractual Right to Vote Provides a Direct or...

Morris James LLP on

The derivative suit concept so familiar in the corporate context has been grafted onto the limited liability form. The contractual nature of limited liability companies and their often closely-held membership can pose...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Managing Members of Realty Holding LLCs Vanquish Self-Dealing Claims

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Managing members of manager-managed New York LLCs owe default fiduciary duties of loyalty and care to non-managing members. Those duties can be modified by the operating agreement....more

Winstead PC

Business Divorce: Exiting Member of LLC May Still Owe Fiduciary Duties

Winstead PC on

In Villareal v. Saenz, two co-owners of a limited liability company sued each other regarding conduct surrounding a business divorce. 5-20-CV-00571-OLG-RBF, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94183 (W.D. Tex. May 18, 2021)....more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

“Intentional” Breach of Fiduciary Duty Defeats Operating Agreement’s Exculpatory Clause

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Last week, Peter Mahler blogged about a recent decision holding that a minority shareholder’s claim against its majority co-owners for breach of fiduciary duty in connection with a sale of the business to a third party...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Money’s There But Out of Reach for the Minority LLC Member

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Of late I’ve been ruminating on New York’s membership in the shrinking pool of states that don’t recognize oppression of an LLC minority member by the controlling members or managers as ground for judicial dissolution....more

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Harmonizes Operating Agreement Governance Provisions To Resolve LLC Control Dispute

Morris James LLP on

Pearl City Elevator, Inc. v. Gieseke, C.A. No. 2020-0419-JRS (Del. Ch. Mar. 23, 2021) - Under Delaware law, limited liability company agreements are interpreted like other contracts; they are read as a whole in light of...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Business Divorce on the Menu

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

The restaurant business is on the skids amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Yelp reports that 60% of closed restaurants won’t re-open. Apart from the pandemic, the success rate for new restaurants is dauntingly low. Surveys show a...more

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