Justia Business Law Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff Daniela Turacova and Ronald DeThomas (DeThomas) formed a limited liability company known as TAMA. After DeThomas passed away, a dispute arose regarding the buyout of his interest in TAMA. Because Plaintiff and Defendant, the Estate of DeThomas, were unable to agree upon the purchase price for DeThomas's fifty percent interest in TAMA, the superior court determined the fair market value of the property and construed several provisions of the TAMA operating agreement to fix the total amount that Plaintiff owed to the Estate. The superior court entered judgment in favor of Defendant in the amount of $658,573, including prejudgment interest. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not err in (1) disregarding the language of the parties' settlement agreement indicating that Plaintiff would have thirty days from the date of the property was valued in which to pay Defendant, as the settlement agreement did not supersede the provision in the operating agreement concerning the time for payment; and (2) awarding prejudgment interest. View "Turacova v. DeThomas" on Justia Law

The Town of Little Compton filed a complaint against the town firefighters union, contending that the union, or its representative, had engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when the union allowed its nonlawyer business agent to represent it at a labor arbitration hearing. The Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee concluded that the union representative's action constituted a technical violation of the statute governing the unauthorized practice of law. Mindful that this type of lay representation of unions in labor arbitrations is a common practice, the Committee petitioned the Supreme Court on how to proceed. The Supreme Court held that, although the conduct involved in this case may have been the practice of law pursuant to the statute, because of the long-standing involvement of nonlawyer union employees at public grievance arbitrations, the Court would not limit this involvement at this time.