LLCs Can Protect Individual Assets From Judgement Creditors One of the principal reasons for forming a business entity is to protect the owners from personal liability for the debts of the corporation. At the same time, business owners may use the business, most often a limited liability company, as a…
The Business Divorce Law Report
Fraud Claim Against Yankee Star Derek Jeter Survives
Derek Jeter promised his new business partners that his ownership and support of the Frigo brand of men’s underwear would not conflict with the superstar Yankee’s obligations to sportswear giant Nike. In return, RevolutionWear, Inc. gave him 15 percent of the company and a seat on the board. Apparently, Nike…
Buy-Sell Agreements: Planning for the Business Divorce
Few of us have the liquidity that we need to contemplate the divorce while we are making plans to get marriedIt just doesn’t enter our minds at the time and, of course, when if it does later become an issue, it is way too late to come to an easy…
Parties to Arbitrate MD Expulsion
The subject of the Appellate Division’s recent decision in Ames v. Premier Surgical, LLC, Docket No. A-1278-15T1 (June 29, 2026) is who decides whether a dispute is subject to mandatory arbitration. But the nature of dispute here suggests a cautionary tale about withdrawal and valuation, and what happens when the…
Partner Who Wrongfully Dissolved Partnership Hit With Whopping 66% Minority Discount
Talk about playing your cards wrong. A partner with a 3.08% interest worth $4.85 million in a partnership that owns a major shopping mall likely will walk away with only a few hundred thousand dollars after a court decision finding that he wrongfully dissolved the partnership and deducting from the…
Goodwill Valuation is Key in Professional Partnership Valuations
The limited liability partnership or LLP is a highly popular form of business association for professional practices including law firms and medical groups. As its name suggests, the LLP combines the attributes of a partnership with the limited liability traditionally associated with corporations, except that professionals in LLPs generally remain…
Majority Rule Creates Fiduciary Duties
The three majority members of a five-member limited liability company decide that they want to take a major action, such as selling the assets of the business or buying another business. They present the decision to the minority and proceed over their objections (We’ll assume for the moment that the…
Supreme Court Will Decide LLC Expulsion Dispute
The New Jersey Supreme Court will consider the standards for expulsion of a member from a limited liability company. The Court granted certification in IE Test, LLC v. Carroll, Docket NO. A-6159-12T4 (N.J. Super. App. Div., March 17, 2015)(see our discussion here.) The opinion construes N.J.S.A. 42:2B-24(b)(3)(a) of the now…
Limited Liability Company Breakup: Crossing the Hudson Makes a Difference
LLC Divorce: Till Death Do Us Part, or Just Irreconcilable Differences Should a business divorce be hard or easy? In the world of human divorces, it’s the difference between no-fault divorce and divorce only after a showing of cause. In the world of businesses, it turns on the concept of…
Does the LLC Statute Trump Agency Law?
Agent Fails to Dislcose Principal Exists, Avoids Liability Was the limited liability company statute supposed to eliminate basic principles of agency law? That seemsto be the import of a decision by the Appellate Division of Superior Court in Castro v. Giacchi, Docket No. A-6220-12T2 (N.J. Super. App. Div. December 5, 2014)(Opinion…