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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As I have said many times in this blog, when minority shareholder oppression occurs, the most likely remedy is a buyout.  In other words, courts in New Jersey have the power to compel the majority shareholder to pay “fair value” to an oppressed minority shareholder so the victim of wrongdoing is not forced to remain captive as a shareholder in a company that is treating him improperly.  » Read More