On November 25, Virginia Lawyers Weekly reported that Venable LLP prevailed in a case involving the contested judicial dissolution of a family-owned farm holding thousands of acres of valuable land in Loudoun County.
Venable Partners Nicholas DePalma, Kevin Weigand, and Michael Robinson represented the appellees, who are the minority owners in an agritourism business with their father, the majority owner. After nearly a decade of litigation with their father, covering abuse of process, adverse possession, breach of contract, and tortious interference with valuable land deals to sell land for over $100 million to Toll Brothers and others, Venable successfully obtained dissolution of the LLC at the trial level while also defeating claims brought by the majority member seeking to dissociate them. The Supreme Court of Virginia entered a lengthy memorandum opinion affirming the result.
The Venable team faced many obstacles – such as trying the case remotely, working through a corporate bankruptcy, and complications during the trial – before their triumph before the Supreme Court of Virginia.
“Cases this compelling do not come around very often,” DePalma shared. “And when they do, you still can’t win without grit, determination, and unwavering client support.”
“The Court recognized that dissolution is a remedy reserved for exceptional cases but can be available even in the absence of managerial deadlock,” he added. “That outcome will be surprising to some but is consistent with the statute and the principles of law underpinning it.”
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