Business Divorce
Disputes among business partners are emotionally taxing and complex, particularly when the co-owners are friends or family members. When the conflict rises to the level at which a business divorce is contemplated, the co-owner must proceed expeditiously and in a manner that ensures the preservation of the business and its assets.
Not surprisingly, untangling the ownership of a business implicates many of the same issues seen in a typical marital divorce although with greater financial, tax, liability, and accounting implications. For these reasons, it is imperative for the afflicted business owner to retain experienced counsel to guide them through the high stakes and costly process of business divorce.
Eric D. Reiser and the attorneys of Shapiro, Croland, Reiser, Apfel & Di Iorio LLP have years of experience representing clients in business divorces, shareholder/member derivative actions and closed corporation litigation across many different industries. As this area of law is constantly evolving, our lawyers take great care to remain current on new case law and the applicable statutes controlling these matters, including New Jersey’s Oppressed Minority Shareholder Statute, the New Jersey Business Corporation Act, New Jersey’s Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, the Uniform Partnership Act, as well as statutory parallels in New York.
In short, the scope and diverse nature of our firm practice enables our attorneys to tackle the complex legal issues that arise in the business divorce context and to provide our clients with objective counsel during this emotionally charged process.
Industry Experience
Our attorneys have a great deal of experience handling business divorce matters across a broad range of industries, including the following:
- Chemical Lab Testing
- Data Storage
- Firearms Sales
- Real Estate
- Marketing
- Food Services
- Entertainment
- Professional Services
- Technology
Representative Matters
Our firm has advised clients on a wide variety of business disputes. Examples of our experience include the following:
- Represented shareholders of a closed corporation in a derivative lawsuit brought on an emergent basis for injunctive relief to expel a corporate officer from company for embezzlement, theft, breach of duty of loyalty, corporate waste and other acts of corporate fraud. The firm obtained an injunction against the corporate officer, expelled the officer from the company and negotiated a buy out the corporate officer’s shares in the company.
- Represented oppressed minority member of an LLC in an action for a buyout of the minority member’s interest in the company where majority members mismanaged the company and committed other acts of corporate waste and theft.
- Represented shareholders of corporation in litigation involving the separation of two businesses with shared expenses and lease space.
- Successfully defended majority owners of a family business against minority co-owners seeking to invalidate gifts of stock made by former majority owner.
- Defended minority member of LLC in corporate deadlock action where the majority member froze the minority.
- Defending partner against former partner in accounting action involving the sale of corporate interests and claims for fraud in the inducement.
CONTACT
For further information on this topic or to discuss your case, please contact Eric D. Reiser.