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minority shareholder

Dec 06, 2022

Focus on the Relief, Not the Label

Minority shareholders may be entitled to a legal remedy, including possibly a buyout, if they suffer from “shareholder oppression” under New Jersey law. Many clients find that the statute uses both the words “mismanagement” and “oppression” when searching online. From the perspective of a minority owner who believes he is, at best, being taken advantage of, it is difficult to think of what is happening as anything other than “mismanagement.” » Read More

Oct 28, 2022

Financial Wrongdoing Usually Leaves a Trail

Clients often come in fully believing their business partner is cheating them somehow. But they have been denied access to the company financial information for so long they don’t really know for sure. The quandary becomes, what if I spend all that money to file suit and I’m wrong? » Read More

Sep 30, 2022

Remedies Other Than a Buyout for Shareholder or Member Oppression

If you have read my prior articles, you know that an oppressed minority shareholder in New Jersey is often entitled to the remedy of a court-ordered buyout of his or her shares. However, not only is that not always the remedy a court will impose, but it is also not always the remedy a minority shareholder wants. » Read More

Feb 28, 2022

Trusting Your Business Partner Does Not Mean Never Looking at the Books

It’s hard to imagine a new business can succeed if the business partners don’t trust each other. But a business partner who insists “trust” means keeping yourself in the dark about company finances is waving a major red flag.

Trusting Your Business Partner

Of course, when starting a company, it is critical that the owners trust each other. » Read More

Nov 30, 2021

Don’t Focus On Who the Majority Shareholders Hire to Defend Your Business Divorce Litigation

Clients in business divorce litigation often place tremendous emphasis on things that may not matter much in the long run – like who the majority shareholders use as their attorney.

Majority Shareholders’ Attorney

Quite often, when I file a shareholder oppression action against the majority shareholders and the company, the attorney who has represented the company for years will wind up representing the defendants, and my minority shareholder clients often object. » Read More

Mar 18, 2019

Minority Shareholders Don’t Always Have a Right to Information

There appears to be an uptick in the filing of meritless corporate shareholder and LLC member oppression claims in New Jersey.  Not everything that majority shareholders do that upsets a minority owner is worth spending legal fees to pursue.

When the only allegations one can make are a failure to keep an absentee shareholder fully informed of all business transactions, and a failure to obtain that minority shareholder’s consent to such transactions, that alone is rarely a recipe for successful litigation.  » Read More

Nov 29, 2018

New Case Addresses Termination of Employment as Shareholder Oppression

I have previously posted on this blog in the past about how the termination of a minority shareholder’s employment can constitute minority shareholder oppression in New Jersey, possibly entitling the minority shareholder to a buy-out. This is based on the theory that an owner of a small, closely-held business reasonably expects employment as long as he is a shareholder. » Read More

Oct 04, 2018

Prosecutors Are Rarely Interested in Business “Theft” Cases

Many business divorce cases start because one partner is improperly taking money from the business.  Such behavior can come in many different forms, including a majority shareholder wildly overcompensating himself, running personal expenses through the business, or having family members on the payroll with a no-show job.  » Read More

Feb 22, 2018

Business Owner Rights: What Every Shareholder Should Know

David C. Roberts, a Member of Norris McLaughlin, P.A., is pleased to present a seminar for all business owners that will answer many of the questions, both known and unknown, a shareholder would have, such as:
  • What, exactly, is “shareholder oppression?”
» Read More