In any shareholders dispute one of the first questions that will occur to a lawyer is how much are you arguing about. However, it is surprising how often this has not been addressed by parties to a dispute.
Shareholder litigation is notoriously expensive. As part of any risk analysis an assessment of the proportionality of taking legal action is essential. It is rare that any good lawyer will ever advise that litigation should be embarked on as a point of principle. It should only be contemplated where a commercial case for doing so can be made out.
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When you specialise in dealing with shareholders disputes you become more of a commercial divorce lawyer than a commercial litigator. The passions that can be aroused in a dispute between the shareholders in a business are as intense as those which my colleagues in the family law sphere are used to dealing with. How to avoid these passions killing the golden goose in boardroom disputes is a perennial problem.
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Football teams are renowned for their high turnover of managers. Some clubs also manage a high turnover of directors. Arsenal, who have had managerial stability in the form of Arsene Wenger, have found themselves with a full blown boardroom dispute on their hands that has lead to four directors leaving in controversial circumstances in the last 2 years. The latest saga in the shareholders dispute sees the departure of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith from the board of directors.
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The latest twist in the Barclays boardroom dispute over the bank’s emergency fundraising is a “back us or sack us” ultimatum from the Board. This high stakes act calls the bluff of the angry shareholders.
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An old fashioned boardroom dispute seems to be brewing up at EasyJet that is only tangentially related to the current economic circumstances.
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As the dust slowly settles on the rescue of the Western banking system from the edge of oblivion the inevitable recriminations begin. First in line are the shareholders in banks that have been bailed out by the government. This is a potential shareholder dispute on a massive scale.
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Following on from my last post (RBS - Gloves off in the boardroom) - Sir Fred Goodwin of RBS appears set to depart the bank to be replaced by somebody who is currently a non-executive on the board.
As this once mighty banking Caesar ponders his fate it is worth noting that boardroom disputes are only tangentially troubled by notions of fair play. A director who is dismissed by a cabal of his fellow directors may claim compensation in relation to his loss of employment or if he is a shareholder bring a claim for unfair prejudice but there is no general duty of good faith as between directors themselves.
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As discussed in previous posts - as a general rule directors and shareholders pull together in times of crisis and boardroom disputes or shareholder disputes are put on the back-burner. RBS are bucking the trend with what looks like a full blown boardroom dispute brewing up.
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In a time when the world is apparently tumbling towards a global recession it is no surprise, but still some relief, that intra-company disputes are being rapidly set aside.
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As this blog is launched the effects of the credit crunch are spreading like a virus across the world and once mighty monoliths of capitalism are coming tumbling down. Everybody is bracing themselves for a major recession.
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Shareholders disputes | Ed Weeks | 
April 23, 2010 7:33 pm | 
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