Protecting the rights of a California minority shareholder or investor can be legally complex.  Disputes involving the protection of a minority position not only require an extensive understanding of federal and State of California law, they require tact, business savvy and in some cases an iron fist.  The experienced San Diego minority shareholder dispute attorneys at the Watkins Firm have more than four decades of experience representing minority shareholders and helping them to protect their interests and investments.  We can help to assert your rights, protect the value of your holdings and achieve your goals and objectives.

While we don’t have specific laws on the subject here in California, shareholder oppression is unfortunately quite common.  Perhaps company executives, the board or majority interests have failed to declare a satisfactory dividend (if a dividend has been declared at all).  They may attempt to refuse your access to important corporate documents or the books themselves.  They may attempt to physically lock you out or prevent you from accessing the premises. These actions violate the rights of a California minority shareholder or investor.

In more nefarious scenarios, an aggressive majority interest may attempt to water down or devalue your position through a corporate acquisition or a merger with another corporate entity.  The new corporation (which they own) is structured in a way which attempts to force you as a minority shareholder to sell your position for much less than it is worth, or exchange your existing stock for stock which has much less value, power or control.

Pro-Tip: “We’ve had so many investor or shareholder fights where a company takes a group of friends, or a group of friends who know friends, maybe 30 people to 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, of keeping it for themselves, it’s very tempting for human nature to turn that down.

Obviously not all shareholders need legal advice, but many of them do. When should a potential shareholder seek the advice of the Watkins Firm?

Well, if you’re investing $500, no, but if you’re making a substantial investment in a company, you are a buyer of that company. So all the same thought process that we go through when we acquire a company or we sell a company and we do our due diligence should come into play. And law firms have resources that average people don’t. We have computer databases, we can do background searches, we can pull up, or request disclosures. We can actually help you ask certain questions of the corporation. We can literally even hire our CPA to review the financial documents to make sure it adds up.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

You have rights as a minority shareholder in California.  The experienced shareholder’s rights attorneys at the Watkins Firm aggressively assert and defend your rights.  We provide sound counsel while working to resolve disputes in a timely and cost-efficient manner.  If you are searching for attorneys with extensive experience protecting the rights of a California minority shareholder or investor we invite you to review our podcast Episode 14 – Shareholder 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.  We have the power, resources, legal skill, experience and leverage to assert your rights and achieve a positive outcome in your matter.