Law Firm’s Nasty Split Sparks Novel Questions on Derivative Suits
Reuters’ Alison Frankel tells the story of the split between the partners of a personal injury juggernaut and how their feud turned into an unusual and creative use of a derivative suit.
Cellino & Barnes used ubiquitous advertising on television, radio and billboards in New York to generate more than $10 million in profits each year since 2015 for its only two shareholders, Ross Cellino and Stephen Barnes.
Their split and the subsequent fight have resulted in a derivative suit that has provoked apparently novel questions about the intersection of shareholder derivative litigation and the dissolution of a privately-held corporation, Frankel writes.