California Corporate & Securities Law

U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell's ruling in Strong v. Cochran, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170073, is a reminder that sometimes what you do matters more than what you say.  The case involved claims by the liquidating trustee for a failed real...

Limited liability companies did not exist when Congress enacted the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Therefore, it should be no surprise that as originally enacted these acts did not mention LLCs.  Congress has since...

UCLA Professor Stephen Bainbridge has published several posts commenting on my post discussing Curci Invs. v. Baldwin, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 698.  The issue in Curci was whether reverse veil piercing of a limited liability company is possible in...

Courts historically have applied the alter ego doctrine to "pierce the corporate veil" so that a shareholder may be held liable for the debts or conduct of the corporation.  California has extended the possibility of alter ego liability to members...

In an opinion issued yesterday, the Nevada Supreme Court addressed the extent to which a member of a limited liability company is protected in a negligence based tort action against the LLC.  Gardner v. Henderson Water Park, LLC, 133 Nev. Adv. Op....

Derivative actions can be somewhat confusing.  Although the entity is essentially the plaintiff, it is named as a defendant.  Initially, one might question why must the corporation be named as a party?  I can think of at least two reasons.  First,...

In general, the debts, obligations, or other liabilities of a California limited liability company do not become the debts, obligations, or other liabilities of a member or manager solely by reason of the member acting as a member or manager acting...

Practitioners under California's Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act will be familiar with the concept of an "operating agreement" (Cal. Corp. Code § 17701.02(s)).  Indeed, I expect that nearly every LLC formed under the CARULLCA has, or...

California's version of the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act expressly subjects members to potential alter ego liability: