This case from the North Carolina Business Court involves the world’s 29th richest man, the City of Detroit, and a $55 million default judgment. Oh, and airplanes too. Big ones.
All this and more was discussed in the Business Court’s decision today in Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas v. Tradewinds Airlines, Inc., 2009
The fiduciary duties owed by members and managers of limited liability companies are very different under North Carolina and Delaware law. In a bit of judicial serendipity, the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Delaware Court of Chancery each issued opinions on those issues last week, just a day apart.
The North Carolina case
Ken Lewis, Bank of America’s CEO, has testified under oath to threats by former Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson to remove the Bank’s Board of Directors and its management if the Bank didn’t close its deal to acquire Merrill Lynch, and secret promises to support the Bank with federal funds if it did close
Three decisions from the North Carolina Business Court were affirmed today by the North Carolina Court of Appeals. They involve fiduciary duties of members of LLCs, the right of limited partners to sue directly for injury to a partnership, and the obligation of the personal representative of an estate to give notice to creditors.
Until today, there wasn’t any law in North Carolina on the proper choice of law analysis to decide what state’s law to apply in an accounting malpractice case. That changed with the North Carolina Business Court’s decision today in Harco Nat’l Ins. Co. v. Grant Thornton LLP, 2009 NCBC 11 (N.C. Super. Ct. April
One million nine hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. Those are the fees applied for by the lawyers representing the Plaintiff in the almost completely unsuccessful effort to get an injunction against the now completed merger between Wachovia and Wells Fargo.
Plaintiff has presented a Stipulation and Agreement of Compromise, Settlement and Release to the Court
After a case is designated to the Business Court, the Clerk of Court in the county in which the case is pending no longer has the authority to grant a motion for extension of time. In this case, per Business Court Rule 9.2, the Court struck the Order entered by the Clerk granting an extension
The Fourth Circuit today settled a nationwide debate, in this Circuit anyway, about an important issue involving automobile loans in Chapter 13 proceedings. That’s whether a lender can have a purchase money security interest for the portion of its financing which includes "negative equity" or other items associated with the loan, like "gap insurance."
The
When a member leaves an LLC, whether his or her departure is a withdrawal or a dissolution can make a significant difference. In this case, the characterization of the nature of the Plaintiffs’ departure from a law firm LLC determined whether they were entitled to proceeds from contingent fee cases generated after their departure.
If
This case involves sanctions under Rule 26(g) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides that an attorney’s signature on a discovery response is a certification that it is "consistent with the rules," and "not interposed for any improper purpose," and "not unreasonable or unduly burdensome or expensive."
The Court determined that sanctions