Business Disputes

Conflicts between businesses and their stakeholders

We handle internal and external business disputes involving contracts, business torts, fiduciary duties, and corporate governance.

Overview

Conflicts between businesses and their stakeholders can threaten not only financial outcomes but also reputations, relationships, and long-term viability. We represent companies, investors, executives, and entrepreneurs in complex business litigation and commercial disputes that arise both externally, with counterparties, and internally, within organizations.

Our practice is defined by strategy. We craft and execute plans that press every advantageā€”combining thorough preparation with creative solutions to build leverage, manage risk, and advance our clientsā€™ interests. By treating each matter as trial-bound, we position clients to succeed in negotiation, arbitration, or court.

We bring this approach to disputes such as:

  • Contract disputes: breach of contract claims involving shareholders, joint venture partners, lenders, vendors, distributors, customers, landlords, tenants, and insurers.
  • Business tort disputes: fraud, misrepresentation, negligent misstatement, interference with business or contractual relationships, unfair competition, and bad faith.
  • Ownership disputes: conflicts among partners, shareholders, and LLC members, including buyouts, appraisal rights, minority oppression, and ownership rights.
  • Fiduciary duty disputes: alleged misconduct by officers, directors, managers, or business partners.
  • Corporate governance disputes: board control, management deadlock, and shareholder rights.
  • Commercial landlord-tenant disputes: lease enforcement, eviction defense, and property-related issues affecting ongoing business operations.
  • Secured transactions and UCC disputes: litigation over liens, security interests, and creditor remedies under the Uniform Commercial Code.
  • Insurance coverage disputes: liability, property, or business interruption coverage, as well as bad faith claims against insurers.

Representative Experience

We have experience in high-stakes business disputes across industries, representing clients in state and federal courts and arbitration through careful preparation and efficient, strong advocacy. Representative matters include:

  • Shareholder redemption dispute.  We represented an outdoor furniture manufacturer in a bet-the-company dispute over enforcement of a shareholder agreement that allowed the company to redeem stock at fixed multiples once a shareholder ceased working in the business.  Certain shareholders resisted redemption and sought a ā€œfair valueā€ buyout ā€” more than $35 million above the contractual price.  After an nine-day arbitration, the panel unanimously upheld the redemption under the agreement and rejected all counterclaims.
  • Illusory insurance class action. We represented an insurer in a class action challenging the validity of a lessor liability insurance product, with millions of dollars at stake. We prevailed on summary judgment before class certification, and the judgment was unanimously affirmed on appeal, defeating the case in its entirety.
  • Municipal pension class action.  We represented a municipality in a class action seeking a cost-of-living adjustment to pension benefits. On the eve of a hearing on our motion for summary judgment, the case settled favorably for our client.
  • UCC lien enforcement. We represented an LED-panel manufacturer in debt-collection litigation against a distributor, successfully enforcing UCC liens on panels worth over $5 million across the United States.

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