In Pennsylvania, Manufactured Deadlocks are Unlikely to Trigger Judicial Dissolution

In disputes among the owners of a closely held company, involuntary judicial dissolution is the nuclear option.

When a group of shareholders successfully petitions a court to dissolve and then liquidate their company because the owners reached an impasse they could not overcome, there will

When shareholders of a company believe the leaders of the company have breached their fiduciary duties to it, they can bring a lawsuit against those leaders in one of two ways. Shareholders can bring the suit in their own names (a direct suit), or they can bring it on behalf of the company if the

There is perhaps no richer vein of literary gold than conflict between fathers and sons. Hamlet, Robinson Crusoe, multiple characters drawn by Charles Dickens, not to mention the mother of all family contretemps, Oedipus Rex, touch on this deeply human power struggle.

One such conflict was the backdrop for the Pennsylvania Superior Court’s recent decision

Image a home buyer finally finds their dream house. There’s just one problem.

During their home inspection, they discover the foundation is cracked. But they buy the house anyway, fully aware of the issues with the foundation.

In the sale agreement, there’s a clause stating the house’s foundation is flawless.

Should the seller be liable

Over the past few years, the term “receipts” has entered the pop culture lexicon to mean something broader than its traditional definition of a document that acknowledges either the receiving of a product or service, or money in exchange for a product or service.

These days, if you hear “receipts” mentioned in a song, television

Business partnerships are built on the trust and loyalty of their participants. Without mutual coordination and honesty among all involved, tensions will inevitably arise that could derail a partnership’s success. The resulting fallout could be costly in several ways, as lost profits, ruined business opportunities, protracted litigation, and busted personal relationships would surely follow.

Given

For some owners of closely held companies, installing a board of directors may seem more painful than cutting off one of their pinkie fingers.

They’d have to give up control of their business.

They’d have to share confidential information.

They’d have to waste time on the formalities of having a board.

They’d have to waste

“Piercing the corporate veil” is one of those legal terms that makes a legal action seem more romantic than it really is. When a party to a legal dispute attempts to pierce the corporate veil of a corporate adversary, they are asking a court to move aside the metaphorical veil created by the adversary’s corporate

There is arguably no more prevalent legal claim in business divorces than a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty. Simply put (and I do mean simply), when one person owes a fiduciary duty to another, the person with the duty must act in the best interests of the person to whom they owe

When legal disputes between owners of closely held companies turn the corner past “Let’s resolve this issue without litigation” and head toward “See you in court,” the owners and their lawyers typically begin jockeying for the upper hand in a potential lawsuit. The most effective way to grab the upper hand is to be the