Where a minority shareholder exercised domination and control over the company’s sole director and its majority shareholder, it owed a fiduciary duty to the other minority shareholder. Button v. Level Four Orthotics & Prosthetics, Inc., 2020 NCBC 18 (J.Robinson). As a result, the other minority shareholder could maintain […]
Where a business’ out-of-state law firm had no assets or property in North Carolina and its lawyers never visited North Carolina while providing Plaintiff legal advice for many years, the law firm and its lawyer lacked sufficient contacts with North Carolina. Diamond Candles, LLC v. Winter, et al., […]
Where a member of an LLC makes just general allegations in her complaint that she demanded the LLC take action before filing suit, such allegations are insufficient to satisfy the statute’s pre-suit demand requirement. Al-Hassan v. Salloum, 2020 NCBC 14 (J.Conrad). Without a proper demand, the member was […]
Where a business begins operations for the purpose of hiring away employees and winning business from another, the new company might not be a “competitor” for purposes of certain legal claims. Med1 NC Services, LLC v. Med1 Plus, LLC, et al. 2020 NCBC 15 (J.McGuire). Because the plaintiff’s […]
Where a business was organized as a corporation rather than an LLC, the duties and obligations owed to and among the owners will be governed by statutes dealing with corporations. Panzino v. 5Church, Inc., 2020 NCBC 13 (J. Conrad). Thus, notwithstanding the fact that the owners referred to […]
Where a company rebuffs a qualifying shareholder’s demand to hold a special meeting for a particular purpose, the Business Court obtains jurisdiction to order a meeting once the by-laws’ time to notice a meeting passes. In Re Matter of Special Shareholders’ Meeting of Phytonix Corporation, 2020 NCBC 3 […]
Where a lawsuit asserts at least one claim that is not “utterly baseless,” a plaintiff is immune from liability based solely on the pursuit of its lawsuit. Lowder v. Phillips, et al., 2020 NCBC 1 (J.McGuire). Because Plaintiff stated a claim for misappropriation of trade secrets (“MTS”), Defendant’s […]
As we raise a glass to say goodbye to 2019 and welcome 2020, we take a look back at some of the more significant opinions the Business Court published over the last twelve months (or so). These cases would be helpful for any company which does business in […]
Where a partner seeks to enforce his statutory right to inspect a foreign partnership’s records, the claim is one of those types that need not be brought in the partnership’s home jurisdiction. Albright v. Vining-Sparks Securities, Inc., et al., 2019 NCBC 80 (J.Gale). As a result, Plaintiff’s claim […]
Where an agreement provides that “any dispute… arising out of the agreement” would be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with “the Rules of the American Arbitration Association,” such language provides “clear and unmistakable evidence” of the parties’ agreement to delegate certain substantive issues—like the availability of class […]
Philip Mohr