Category Archives: Court Rulings

In a New York Business Divorce, a Petition for Dissolution Triggers Buy-Sell Agreements

April 6, 2022 | Court Rulings

Collins v. Tabs Motors of Valley Stream Corp. Tabs Motors of Valley Stream Corp. (Tabs), respondent and third-party plaintiff, sought to enforce a shareholders agreement through specific performance. This decision addressed only the counterclaim of Tabs against the petitioners and its third-party claim against co-executors of Connie Collins Estate (Estate).  Background. Tabs is a family-owned  Continue Reading »

Court Denies Motion to Exclude Rebuttal Testimony of Damages

March 24, 2022 | Court Rulings

SL EC, LLC v. Ashley Energy, LLC The matter at hand was a motion to exclude rebuttal testimony of Barton DeLacy regarding a sale transaction of a historic steam power plant in downtown St. Louis. For the reasons described below, the motion was denied. Background Plaintiffs/counterclaim defendants brought this lawsuit against counterclaim plaintiffs, including claims  Continue Reading »

Husband Dissipates Assets by Placing Them in Trusts for the Children, but the Appellate Court Does Not Allow Unaccrued Interest

March 8, 2022 | Court Rulings, Divorce Litigation

Mohen v. Mohen The appellate court (AC) vacated the trial court order (TC) that erroneously charged the husband with $4,360,158 in unaccrued interest on marital assets that the husband fraudulently dissipated from the marital estate. This altered the equitable distribution, so the case was further remanded to the TC to issue a new order per  Continue Reading »

District Court Rules ‘Decisively’ Against the DOL in an ESOP Overvaluation Case

February 24, 2022 | Court Rulings

Walsh v. Bowers Defendants Brian Bowers and Dexter Kubota owned all the stock in an engineering firm, Bowers & Kubota Consulting Inc. They created an ESOP to which they sold all of their stock for $40 million. The government sued, alleging that they had violated ERISA by manipulating data so that the ESOP paid more  Continue Reading »

Property Transfer Was Not Fraudulent Because Debtor Was Not Insolvent

February 9, 2022 | Court Rulings

Yaquinto v. Thompson St. Capital Partners “As part of a refinancing transaction in 2014, Stone Panels Inc. (SPI) and Stone Panels Holding Corp. (Holding) jointly borrowed roughly $14 million that was immediately transferred to Thompson Street Capital Partners III, LP (Thompson Street) to partially satisfy a debt for which only Holding was obligated. Robert Yaquinto,  Continue Reading »

Court Issues Partial Summary Judgment in Favor of Party Alleging Breach of Contract

January 26, 2022 | Court Rulings

Paganelli v. Lovelace Background Parties’ agreement. The defendant, and counterclaimant, Richard Lovelace, was an estimator and project manager for Safe Environmental Corp. (the Company). He eventually became a vice president but was not involved in the finances of the Company. The Company is an asbestos and lead paint remediation company. Anthony Paganelli, the owner of  Continue Reading »

Malpractice Insurer Not Required to Defend Valuation Firm for Claim Alleging Securities Fraud

January 12, 2022 | Court Rulings

Great Am. Fid. Ins. Co. v. Stout Risius Ross, Inc. In this suit, the defendant (Stout) was initially sued over its valuation of the stock of a paper company in connection with the ESOP for that company. Stout demanded coverage for that suit from its malpractice insurer, Great American Fidelity Insurance Co. (Great American). Great  Continue Reading »

Oregon Appellate Court Disallows Discounts for Lack of Control and Lack of Marketability

December 29, 2021 | Court Rulings

Dipak Patel, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Siddhi Hospitality, LLC, et al. Plaintiff, Dipak Patel, was a 25% owner in defendants’ two entities, franchised hotels. Believing that his fellow LLC members were not treating him fairly, the plaintiff filed suit against the entities and the individual members. He asserted multiple complaints alleging various claims. The defendants filed counterclaims  Continue Reading »

Plaintiff Fails to Convince the Court That Physical Loss or Physical Damage Has Occurred; Virus Clause Applies and Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Is Granted

December 13, 2021 | Court Rulings, Valuations

Family Tacos, LLC v. Auto Owners Ins. Co. Summary In this business interruption case resulting from mandatory shutdowns to control COVID-19, the court grants a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s claims. Plaintiff operates two restaurants in Ohio, which has incurred losses due to the pandemic. Because the policy, as a matter of law, does not  Continue Reading »

Court Grants Insurance Company’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint That It Suffered Covered Loss of Income Due to COVID-19 Restrictions

November 29, 2021 | Court Rulings

Equity Planning Corp. v. Westfield Ins. Co. Case Digest  COVID-19-related damages cases are making their way through state and federal courts. Plaintiffs typically are businesses that have suffered economic losses because of various mandatory shutdowns. They file claims with their insurance agency, which frequently denies coverage for business interruption losses. However, more often than not,  Continue Reading »