News & Publications

A recent published decision from the Michigan Court of Appeals underscores a critical issue for LLC members, heirs, and anyone asserting ownership in a Michigan limited liability company: bank documents cannot be relied upon to prove LLC membership because those are documents of a third-party, not "of the limited liability company" as the statute requires. In Estate of James D. Branch v. Kevin Rudolph, Docket No. 368071, the court held that a bank signature card listing [...]

In a landmark ruling, the Ninth Circuit expanded the application of specific personal jurisdiction principles to the realm of nationwide e-commerce. On April 21, 2025, an en banc panel issued a 10–1 decision ruling that allegations that Shopify embedded cookies that tracked a California consumer's location data were sufficient to establish specific personal jurisdiction over Shopify in California (reversing the Court's prior opinion on this exact issue). In the wake of this decision, businesses may face increased legal challenges [...]

On April 10, 2025, Judge Charles R. Breyer of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of a software company (the "Company") in a purported class action alleging that the Company violated Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"). Sundaram v. Freshworks Inc., No. 22-cv-06750-CRB, 2025 WL 1083168 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 10, 2025). The Court granted summary judgment, [...]