Shareholder Litigation & Corporate Disputes

Business, as with life, can be messy, particularly as businesses grow and business relationships evolve. As a result, disputes among shareholders, members, and partners; directors and managers; and officers and employees are common and often cannot be resolved without the assistance of counsel.

Stone & Baxter routinely advises these constituencies in the resolution of equity disputes, changes of control (hostile or otherwise), corporate deadlocks, dilutions, and other disruptive governance issues. While we aim to resolve such disputes quickly and discreetly via negotiation with minimal business interruption, it is not always possible to avoid litigation. In fact, litigation is occasionally the only option, if not the most effective and efficient option. Stone & Baxter has significant experience negotiating, litigating, resolving, and documenting definitively the resolution of almost every type of corporate governance dispute.

We’re also engaged regularly to represent those constituencies in the context of corporate conflicts of interest, equity derivative actions, self-dealing, usurpation of corporate opportunities, breaches of fiduciary duties, buy-sell issues, executive compensation disputes, minority interest disputes, and dissenter’s rights.

Regardless of which constituency or party we represent, our approach is consistent: gather the facts; review the relevant corporate documents; identify options or a series of options; and then pursue that option as aggressively as the circumstances demand, all while preserving alternatives and minimizing costs.

While Stone & Baxter prefers to settle corporate disputes before they spiral out of control and threaten the continued viability of the subject business, our pedigree as commercial litigators and crisis counsel results in our never hesitating to litigate a corporate dispute if doing so will best serve the client.

Representative Clients

  • A shareholder and managing member in a lawsuit alleging improper termination of the entity and distribution of assets.
  • A director/majority shareholder against allegations of improper use of corporate funds.

Practice Groups