Family Business Law

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After a somewhat choppy 2017, many experts are calling for a busy 2018 in the M&A space. The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor Report suggests that the pace of M&A activity will increase in 2018, based in large part on “a combination of gradual acceleration in global economic growth, low inflation in advanced and emerging economies, buoyant asset markets and low-interest rates that continue to bolster the M&A markets.”  While there are concerns that could impact the potential increase in deal flow (such as a rise in economic protectionism or a global equity sell-off) the prevailing view is that the positive conditions for M&A activity will continue to rule the day and drive increasing dealmaking.
Continue Reading Expect A Busy 2018 On The M&A Front

Controlling shareholders and managers of family-owned businesses often direct the use of company funds and other resources to provide employment and other benefits to non-shareholder family members. In a business that is wholly-owned by close family members, there may be little concern that other family member shareholders will complain about the use of such resources, as long as there is disclosure and perceived fairness concerning the use of company funds and access to employment opportunities. The risk of a potential claim for breach of fiduciary duty or minority shareholder oppression may increase, however, when non-family members are admitted into the ownership structure. At that point, historic and perhaps informal practices concerning family member involvement in, and benefits from, the company may not be acceptable to a new owner.  The controlling family member owners must therefore be careful to follow good corporate governance practices when making decisions on the company’s behalf.
Continue Reading Watch Out For Minority Shareholder Oppression Claims After Admitting Non-Family Shareholders To The Family-Owned Business

Disputes between and among owners of family-owned businesses are sometimes unavoidable. When such disputes progress to litigation, they can be extremely costly, time-consuming, and disruptive for the business and its owners. However, most civil lawsuits still settle before reaching a trial before a judge or jury. More specifically, many of those suits settle through mediation. Indeed, judges routinely encourage parties to attempt to settle their disputes, through mediation or otherwise, before setting a trial date.

Mediation is a process through which parties to a dispute select a neutral third-party – often a retired judge or an attorney with subject-matter experience – to attempt to broker a deal between the opposing sides. Mediation sessions are confidential and provide an opportunity for parties to explore a variety of options for resolving their dispute that otherwise may become unavailable once the case is put in a judge or jury’s hands. If done early in the life of a case, mediation can also allow the parties to avoid substantial litigation costs and business disruption.Continue Reading Should You Mediate Your Family-Owned Business Dispute?

Owners of family-owned corporations often enter into shareholder agreements that spell out whether and to whom corporate shares can be transferred. Frequently, these agreements provide for rights of first refusal by the other stockholders or a stock repurchase by the company if a shareholder wishes to transfer shares during his or her lifetime.  These agreements also typically address whether shares may be transferred to any heirs upon a shareholder’s death.  Unless the language regarding permitted transfers is clear, claims may arise between generations of owners concerning the proper ownership of shares upon a shareholder’s death.

A recent California Court of Appeal decision – Saccani v. Saccani – is illustrative of the type of dispute that can arise between family members over a deceased owner’s shares.  Albert Saccani started Saccani Distributing Company in 1933.  According to the Court, Albert’s “desire was that the company would always be kept in the family.”  When he died, each of his sons – Donald, Roland, and Gary – received one-third of the company’s shares.
Continue Reading Definitions in Shareholder Agreements Matter When Transferring Family-Owned Business Stock

Family-owned businesses often employ multiple family members. Even if there is an expectation that employment will continue indefinitely, the company and the family member employees both usually reserve the right, explicitly or implicitly, to terminate the employment “at-will,” meaning at any time and for any reason.  The terms of such at-will employment need not be set out in writing, though sometimes they are.  However, where the parties contemplate the right and obligation of lifetime employment, they should put the employment terms in writing to avoid the potential application of the statute of frauds.

The statute of frauds, generally, bars a party from bringing a claim for breach of an agreement that cannot by its terms be performed within one year, unless the agreement is in writing. In some states, such as Massachusetts, an otherwise enforceable oral agreement for lifetime employment does not fail due to the statute of frauds, because, the courts reason, the agreement could theoretically be fully performed if the employee dies or the company goes out of business within one year of the contract date.  In other states, such as Illinois, an oral lifetime employment agreement is not enforceable under the statute of frauds, because, as the courts reason, a lifetime employment agreement “anticipates a relationship of a long duration – certainly longer than one year.”  Courts in those states apply the statute of frauds to such agreements in recognition of the evidentiary concern that memories can and do fade over time and thus become unreliable and in order to protect defendants and the court from “confusion, uncertainty and outright fraud.” 
Continue Reading If You Expect to Work in the Family-Owned Business for Life, Be Sure to Get It in Writing