© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
*This article was updated on Dec. 27.
(Dec. 13) – Winstead recently announced that it beefed up its litigation practice in Dallas by adding partners Ladd Hirsch and John Tancabel.
Hirsch and Tancabel jump to Winstead from Diamond McCarthy. Hirsch says it was a tough decision to leave the “underappreciated, nationally preeminent” trial boutique where he practiced for the last 12 years.
“Over time, a substantial focus of my practice became business divorce,” he said. “As this practice grew, I needed to be a part of a larger firm to serve my clients’ broader needs that are outside the scope of litigation.”
In these business divorce cases, Hirsch represents high-net-worth individuals that are majority owners and minority investors in private companies in litigation related to dividing up ownership of the private businesses.
The litigation often involves prosecuting and defending claims against fiduciaries of shareholder oppression, breach of fiduciary duty and shareholder derivative suits.
Hirsch says these cases often offer a “win-win” opportunity where value is optimized for both parties.
A hot area of law related to business divorce cases, Hirsh notes, is the question of the scope of amendment power for the controlling owner of a privately-held business. Hirsch says this is an area of the law that has not been fully-developed, but he expects more clarity to come with a number of cases currently in Texas appellate courts.
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