Do you need an attorney with extensive experience protecting shareholder rights in California? What are the rights of a minority shareholder in San Diego and throughout California?  The abuse of shareholder rights usually occurs when the minority shareholders of a privately held corporation are deprived of their legal rights or suffer a “squeeze out” designed to reduce the value of their holding or the benefits their shares should provide.

The Watkins Firm have more than 40 years of experience protecting shareholder rights in California.  Examples of some of our common shareholder disputes include but are not limited to:

• Failing to declare an appropriate dividend
• Removing a minority shareholder from the Board or terminating them as an employee of the corporation
• Commingling of corporate funds or assets or distributions for the benefit of majority shareholder(s)
• Excessive compensation for majority interests
• A merger or acquisition which is designed to dilute or eliminate the value or benefit of the minority interest

Presently, California does not have any specific “tort” or cause of action specifically related to the term “shareholder oppression.”  However there are several other remedies for minority shareholder disputes that are available under California law.  The shareholders rights attorneys at the Watkins Firm work with our clients to determine the best strategy to resolve minority shareholder disputes and shareholder oppression cases.

The Watkins Firm has several strategies which are designed to assert your rights and receive the value or benefit of your holdings.  The first option may be to simply sell your position in the corporation if possible.  In many cases it isn’t possible to achieve an appropriate selling price or to recover your investment.  It is absolutely possible to implement a strategy which is designed to induce majority shareholders to buy out your interests for a fair price.  You may seek to involuntarily dissolve the corporation, exercise dissenting shareholder rights or file a derivative lawsuit on behalf of the corporation.  The Watkins Firm may file a civil lawsuit claiming a breach of the majority shareholder’s fiduciary duty to you as a minority shareholder under California law.

Pro-Tip: “We’ve had so many shareholder fights where a group of friends, or a group of friends who know friends, maybe 30 people invest in a company and it’ll be doing well, but not great. And the investors, the shareholders won’t be receiving disclosures, or they will be receiving them, but they sort of don’t add up. And then they do an investigation and they come to some law firm like ours and they say, well, let’s, let’s get in there seeing the books and records and you get some pushback from the company.

And that’s when all the hairs in your neck stand up and you come to the Watkins firm and we file a motion. And we discover through our due diligence that the company’s doing very good and that they also formed an offshore corporation of the same name. And they’ve taken all the assets and they’re all driving Rolls-Royces.

So this has happened more times than I can say, because it just does happen. Nobody fights over anything unless there’s money involved. If it’s just doing okay, they would tell the truth and say, it’s all great. But if that big money offer comes in the door and they have a way of keeping it for themselves, it’s very tempting for human nature to turn that down.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

It is important to continue protecting shareholder rights in California and your interests as a minority shareholder.  We invite you to review our podcast Episode 14 – Shareholders’ Rights as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.  Learn more about the strategies and options which are available to you and how the Watkins Firm can help to assert your rights and protect the value and benefit of your holdings.