Many transactional attorneys view the fiduciary duties that flow from those in control of a company—officers, directors, managers, general partners and majority shareholders—to those not in control to be a nuisance because of the uncertainty they introduce into corporate transactions. To these attorneys, those duties are particularly problematic in the context of limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships and similar non-corporate entities because their contours are less defined than in a traditional corporation. This uncertainty…

You represent a minority shareholder of a closely-held corporation and the company is having an off year. The majority shareholder is the sole member of the board and serves in every officer position. She draws significant compensation. Without a business justification, she unilaterally decides to double her salary and have the company pay the mortgage on her vacation home. Your client is the only other shareholder and likely the only person hurt by the majority…

This column previously analyzed the Commonwealth Court’s decision in Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, 161 A.3d 394 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2017), and its potential impact on the attorney-client privilege in derivative litigation. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court subsequently granted petitions for allowance of appeal in the case, setting the stage for the court’s first decision addressing derivative litigation in more than 20 years. The court’s Jan. 23 decision in Pittsburgh History emphasized the strength of the attorney-client privilege in…

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 the interest of minority owners or to create off-setting claims against them. “Weaponizing” capital call and dilution provisions can be an effective sharp elbow tactic in business divorce situations but practitioners should be wary of the…

In a perfect world, groups of potential business partners would sit down before they started their new ventures to hash out the details of their relationship. They would work in close consultation with one or more attorneys to produce detailed subscription, operating and loan agreements documenting their arrangements and clearly delineating responsibilities. In the real world, the birth of closely-held businesses is sometimes far messier. Despite their sophistication, entrepreneurs and businesspeople sometimes build and invest…