Based on our personal experience handling Business Divorce matters for both majority owners and substantial minority investors in private companies, we have learned firsthand that there are two sides to every story and every Business Divorce matter is unique. But, we continue to be surprised by instances of outlandish behavior...
Despite Dante’s Warning (Abandon Hope), There is Hope for Minority Investors Who Failed to Obtain a Buy-Sell Agreement Before Acquiring Their Interest
Life is all a about second chances. In the business world, minority investors may feel that they are trapped if they failed to obtain a buy-sell agreement before investing and have no contractual right to exit the company. This situation is common in family businesses when the minority owners did not request their...
Buy-Sell Agreements: Don’t Leave Home (Or Invest) in a Private Company Without One
The season finale of the hit reality TV show The Bachelor attracted more than 8 million viewers. My wife and teenage daughters help make up this devoted fan base, and watch every episode. Yet, when I question them about whether the subject of a pre-nup agreement has ever come up on...
What Is A Texas Partnership: The Answer To Come Soon In The Case Of ETP v. Enterprise Products Partners LP
The legal tension is building. Private Texas companies and their owners are awaiting a court decision that may force them to say “Howdy, Partner” to companies with whom they have no written partnership agreement. The case on which business eyes are focused is ETP v. Enterprise Products Partners, which is before the...
Virtual Reality Goes To Court: Lessons Learned From The $500 Million Jury Verdict Against Facebook’s Oculus Division
The ink is barely dry on the half billion dollar verdict that a Dallas federal court jury returned last week for ZeniMax Media against Oculus, a virtual reality company that Facebook acquired in May 2014. Even before the federal court issues a final judgment and Oculus files an inevitable appeal, however, the...
Brave New World: Minority Shareholders Take the Shackles Off – Looking Back at Private Company Ownership Issues During 2016 (Part 2)
Tis the season to say, out with the old and in with the new. But for minority shareholders with ownership in private Texas companies during 2016, not much changed. Minority shareholders remained without access to a buyout remedy under Texas law, which resulted in minority owners pursuing traditional claims against majority owners, as well...
A Look Back at 2016 – Legal Issues Affecting Texas Private Company Owners and Investors (Part 1)
A sure sign the year is winding up is the release of TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” list. If TIME created a similar list of legal developments impacting owners and investors in private Texas companies this past year, at least two issues would be on it: the adoption of the Defend...
The Devil You Know: Pick Business Partners Wisely and Plan For Problems Ahead
Picking the devil you know in selecting a business partner may seem like a good strategy. But the list of celebrities who have suffered financially in their dealings with business partners is striking with losses totaling millions of dollars in some cases. Uma Thurman lost $1 million. Sting lost $9.8 million. Billy Joel...
Business Partner Exits (Part 2): Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Especially When Partners Do Not Adopt an Exit Strategy
The flight attendants on commercial flights notify passengers where the exits on the plane are located. Fortunately, the vast majority of air travelers never have to put this advice to use. In private companies, however, business partners head for the exits far more frequently as over the past decade, less than half...
Partnership Disputes: He is Heavy and Is Not My Brother; Paths for Partners to Avoid and Resolve Business Conflicts
Most relationships involve conflict at some point, and business partnerships are not immune. In fact, the intense pressure on businesses makes it more likely that business partners will have disagreements from time to time. The key question therefore is not whether business partners will ever have conflicts, but whether they can take steps...