Three managers of two LLCs found themselves up a creek without operating agreements. They couldn’t agree on the ownership shares of one of them, and two of the managers thought
Continue Reading Three’s a Crowd: More LLC Managers, Less Clarity
Analysis of North Carolina Business Court Decisions (and other musings)
Three managers of two LLCs found themselves up a creek without operating agreements. They couldn’t agree on the ownership shares of one of them, and two of the managers thought…
Continue Reading Three’s a Crowd: More LLC Managers, Less ClarityBy Jeff MacHarg and Camryn Rohr

To practitioners familiar with internal disputes involving closely held companies, the allegations in Lafayette Village Pub, LLC v. Burnham, 2025 NCBC 8, are…
Continue Reading A(nother) Cautionary Tale on the Importance of Operating Agreements
A party seeking to unseat a verdict by JNOV “bears a heavy burden under North Carolina law.” Only a “scintilla of evidence” is needed to support the elements of the…
Continue Reading JNOV is a Tough Road, but it’s Not a One in a Million Shot
Joshua Langley worked for Autocraft, Inc. for more than five years and rose to have wide access to its business affairs and “substantial responsibility for its overall operations.” While still…
Continue Reading When Employees Become Competitors, NC Business Court Keeps a Careful Watch on Disturbances in Marketplace Force
A Charlotte area law firm alleged it struck a necessary, and rather ordinary, deal with departing partners to divide fees on contingent cases transitioning among firms based on time expended…
Continue Reading In Planning a Law Firm Exit, Business Court Commends Attention to the Things that Go Unspoken
Just last year, in assessing the extent to which a director has a duty to oversee a corporation’s business affairs, the Business Court noted the “limited guidance” afforded by state…
Continue Reading Corporate Director Duty to at Least “Try” to Carry Out Oversight Functions May Soon Extend to Company Officers
Business Court Probes Gray Areas Between “Control” and “Opportunity”
Mary Hartsell is a nurse practitioner who joined Mindpath Care Centers, North Carolina, PLLC in April 2001 as a member, minority…
Continue Reading Who Holds an LLC’s “Cards”?
When Philip Harvey died in December 2021 he owned more than 400 shares of common capital stock in PHE, Inc., a Hillsborough, North Carolina-based business that sells sexual wellness…
Continue Reading Sex Toy Titan Sues Estate of Founder to Compel Redemption of Shares Whose Value May Exceed $60 Million
Claims not Within Physician-Patient Relationship, Court says, but also are “Entwined with” and “Directly Tied” to Care
Charles McNew was injured in a fall at his home in June 2021…
Continue Reading Patient’s Second “Injury” – Billing for Medical Care
The minority shareholders of a podiatry practice felt like they had been kicked around by the alleged financial misadventures of two colleagues who together controlled an 80 percent interest. A…
Continue Reading Minority Shareholders can “Follow the Money” Linked To Alleged Diversions by Majority for Phantom Salaries and Benefits