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David R. Pierce

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It’s Never Too Early to Plan for Management Transition

Lindabury Partner and President, David Pierce, shares his insight on developing, adopting and implementing strategic management transition plans in the Leadership Issue of Law Practice Today by the American Bar Association (ABA) Law Practice Division. “Navigating a transition in the management of a law firm can be daunting and troublesome,…

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Corporate Deadlock – When Shareholders Seek the Courts’ Assistance in Forcing Buy-outs

Corporate deadlock is often cited as a reason why the court should invoke its powers and order the sale of one shareholder’s stock in minority shareholder litigation. While deadlock is a legitimate reason to bring a lawsuit seeking the court’s intervention, it is not a magic bullet that will automatically…

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Fiduciary Duties Owed by Business Owners to Their Company: A Primer on Common Causes of Shareholder Oppression Claims

Because of the fiduciary duties owed by business owners to each other, whether they are shareholders in a closely held corporation, members in a limited company, or partners in a general or limited partnership, a business owner generally is prohibited from competing with the company. This general prohibition can be…

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What Happens to a Business Partner’s Interests in a Company After Death?

Have you ever heard a story among your friends about a company where two partners got along great, but then one suffered an untimely death and then his widow or children caused the company to breakup? That is a common scenario, although one might not be able to place the…

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New Jersey Courts Are Limited Only By Imagination When Resolving Business Disputes Between Partners

When dealing with shareholder oppression claims the court has a broad arsenal of remedies at its disposal. In fact, the remedies available to the court are limited only by its own imagination and the court’s sense of fairness. The statute applicable to oppressed minority shareholders does provide some remedies along…

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Minority Shareholder Oppression: The Court’s View of “Unfair” Action

Statutory remedies are made available to shareholders in a small, closely held corporation should harmful actions be undertaken by other shareholder or directors of the corporation. Importantly, these statutory remedies are available only to owners of a corporation with 25 or fewer shareholders. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 14A:12-7(1)(c), a shareholder in…

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Regardless of Amount of Corporate Stock Owned, You May Still Be A “Minority Shareholder”

New Jersey statutes provide important rights and protections to “minority” shareholders of small, closely held companies. The applicable statute provides a right to file a lawsuit for relief under the following circumstances: In the case of a corporation having 25 or less shareholders, the directors or those in control have…

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Clarification of New Jersey’s Time of Application Rule

The Appellate Division has recently issued a decision clarifying the applicability of the time of application rule. Effective May 5, 2011 the New Jersey Legislature enacted a change to the Municipal Land Use Law (“MLUL”) that provided the ordinances that would be applied to a development application are those that…

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Breaking Up Your Company: Why Shareholder Disputes Take Place

What is a shareholder dispute or, in other words, shareholder oppression? The terms “shareholder dispute” and “shareholder oppression” are short hand references to business disputes between two or more owners of closely held businesses. Although the phrases both refer to “shareholders” they are used interchangeably by most people to refer…