Episode 24: Corporate Oppression Doctrine Meets Sex Discrimination: A Conversation with Professor Meredith Miller
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 167: Listen and Learn -- Direct and Derivative Actions (Corporations)
Episode 8: Minority Oppression in the LLC: Interview With Professor Douglas Moll
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
Over its three-decade rise to the closely-held business entity of choice, the Limited Liability Company has won a special place in our hearts. The majority of disputes we litigate and blog about concern ownership of or...more
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
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
Two years ago, Peter Mahler wrote about a dissolution lawsuit by a female minority shareholder alleging that her male co-shareholders condoned a pattern of sexually offensive and demeaning conduct by a senior co-worker, which...more
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
If ever there was a ticking time bomb of a family-owned, closely held business more likely to result in business divorce litigation than the one in Matter of Brady v Brady, 2021 NY Slip Op 02705 [4th Dept Apr. 30, 2021], I...more
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
Fine dining and business divorce crossed paths in a recently decided case featuring a lengthy battle between co-equal ownership factions of the corporation that operates Delmonico’s, the renowned Manhattan restaurant...more
Once it is understood that "fair value" is not the same as "fair market value," there appears to be two general views of what is "fair value" in the context of breach of fiduciary duty or shareholder oppression cases. For...more
In any appraisal, whether conducted as a result of a breach of fiduciary duty or oppression, the date of valuation has to be established. In fact, after establishing the definition of "fair value" to apply, the determination...more
The prior discussion, Determining a Remedy After Oppression or Breach of Fiduciary Duty (Part 4), presented a listing of the potential remedies on a finding of a breach of duty and oppression. Frequently, the animosity among...more
Many Texas lawyers and their private company clients continue to refer to the claim for shareholder oppression as if it remains a viable cause of action under Texas law. And yet, for all practical purposes, the claim for...more
Almost five years have passed since the Texas Supreme issued its decision in Ritchie v. Rupe in 2014 abolishing shareholder oppression as a claim under common law by minority shareholders in private Texas companies....more
What’s become known as the bad-faith petitioner defense in judicial dissolution proceedings first emerged in Matter of Kemp & Beatley, 64 NY2d 63 [1984]...more
The combination of majority rule and lack of exit rights leaves minority members of LLCs vulnerable to oppressive conduct by the majority, yet unlike legislation in most states giving dissolution and buy-out remedies to...more