Articles Posted in Corporations

The limited liability company is a relatively new form of business entity, with most state statutes adopted in the 1990s. In just a few years, they overtook the corporation as the most common structure for new businesses.  A reason for the LLC’s popularity is that the it combines some of the most desirable aspects of corporations with some of the most desirable aspects of partnerships, but that blending of characteristics can also be a source of confusion.  For example, LLCs work much like partnerships when it comes to ownership rights, but people often incorrectly assume ownership that LLC interest is analogous to corporate stock and that LLC membership is analogous to being a corporate shareholder.

The owners of corporations are called shareholders and their ownership rights are embodied in shares of stock, a form of intangible personal property comprising a bundle of rights, some economic and some non-economic.  The principal economic right is the right to receive dividends (usually cash) from the corporation, and the principal non-economic right is the right to vote in an election of directors and other matters that may be submitted to a vote of the shareholders. Although there can be restrictions (typically set out in the company’s articles of incorporation or bylaws, or a contract among shareholders or between a shareholder and the corporation), stock is generally transferable from one person to another. A person who acquires stock (thus becoming a shareholder) receives both sets of rights, economic (dividends) and non-economic (voting). It makes no difference how the person acquires the stock –by purchase, by gift, by inheritance, as compensation to an employee, or by court order (in a divorce or otherwise); a person who owns stock holds both economic and non-economic rights.

Limited liability companies also have economic and non-economic rights.  The principal economic right is the right to receive distributions (usually cash) from the company, and the principal non-economic right is the right to participate in the management of the company’s business and affairs. A crucial distinction between LLCs and corporations is that the economic and non-economic rights associated with LLCs are not bundled together in a single package the way those rights in a corporation are bundled together in stock.

Suppose you sue a corporation or a limited liability company and win, but the defendant has no money to pay your award and no other assets you can execute against. Is that a factor that justifies piercing the veil to make the owners of the company pay your award?  The Indiana Court of Appeals answered that question, and a couple of others related to veil piercing, in Country Contractors, Inc. v. A Westside Storage of Indianapolis, Inc.

Country Contractors was incorporated in 1983 as a seller of ready-mix concrete under the name Country Concrete, Inc.  In the 1990’s the company expanded its business to include construction work and excavation. Over the years, Country Contractors owned a substantial amount of assets in the form of construction equipment that it leased to other contractors.  In 2007 the corporation changed its name to Country Contractors, Inc. and amended its articles of incorporation to better reflect its expanded line of business.  Its two shareholders served as the board of directors, but three other people were responsible for running the company from day to day — preparing bids, executing contracts, and supervising the work.

In 2007, Westside engaged Country Contractors to perform excavation and construction services for the price of $235,000.  Country Contractors subcontracted much of the work, which began in 2008.  The two owners were not involved in the negotiation or execution of the contract, nor did they supervise the work.

We previously discussed the Business Entity Harmonization Bill (Senate Enrolled Act 443 or P.L. 118-2017) passed last year by the General Assembly in the following posts:

  • Part I — an introduction.
  • Part II — a discussion of IC 23‑0.5, the Uniform Business Organizations Code.

[March 3, 2018. The General Assembly amended some of the provisions created the Business Entity Harmonization Bill, as discussed in a Postscript to this series.]

This is the last in four-part series. The first three parts are here: here, here, and here.

This Part IV describes some flaws of Senate Enrolled Act 443 that we ran across while writing the first three parts.  We hope the General Assembly will address them, either in the 2018 session or another.

[March 3, 2018. The General Assembly amended some of the provisions created the Business Entity Harmonization Bill, as discussed in a Postscript to this series.]

This is the third of a four-part series discussing the Business Entity Harmonization Bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 2017. The first two parts are here and here.

Senate Enrolled Act 443 creates, effective as of January 1, 2018, a new Article 0.6, the Uniform Business Organization Transactions Code, in Title 23 of the Indiana Code. In previous versions of the statute, provisions dealing with mergers, conversions, and domestications of business corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), limited partnerships (LPs), limited liability partnerships (LLPs), and nonprofit corporations were scattered across several articles of Title 23. The Uniform Business Organization Transactions Code gathers most of them into one article that, in general, applies at least as broadly as each corresponding provision of the former statute, and in some cases more broadly. In addition, the new article provides for the acquisition of ownership interest (i.e., stock in a corporation or interest in a partnership or LLC) by another entity.

[March 3, 2018. The General Assembly amended some of the provisions created the Business Entity Harmonization Bill, as discussed in a Postscript to this series.]

This is the second of a four-part series discussing the Business Entity Harmonization Bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 2017. An overview of the bill is provided in Part I.

Senate Enrolled Act 443 creates, effective as of January 1, 2018, a new Article 0.5 in Title 23 of the Indiana Code, the Uniform Business Organizations Code, that includes a number of provisions that apply to Indiana business corporations (including professional corporations and benefit corporations, but excluding insurance companies), limited liability companies (LLCs, including series LLCs), limited partnerships (LPs), limited liability partnerships (LLPs), and nonprofit corporations, eliminating a number of inconsistencies between similar provisions for different types of entities. The following discussion is a brief description of some of the more important provisions, drawing attention to new or substantially changed provisions.

[March 3, 2018. The General Assembly amended some of the provisions created the Business Entity Harmonization Bill, as discussed in a Postscript to this series.]

Indiana law provides for several types of business and nonprofit entities, each of which is governed by one or more articles of Title 23 of the Indiana Code, all of which require similar filings with the Indiana Secretary of State, and all of which are capable of undergoing transactions such as mergers and conversions into other types of entities. The types of entities and the governing portions of Title 23 are:

This is the final installment in a series of articles dealing with Indiana’s new benefit corporation statute in general and its applicability to small businesses in particular, and we now arrive at the ultimate question:  Is it a good idea for a small businesses to incorporate as (or to convert to) a benefit corporation?

In our opinion, the best choice of entity for most small businesses is a limited liability company, not a corporation, and the new benefit corporation statute does not change that opinion. Although we think the benefit corporation statute is an excellent addition to Indiana corporate and business law, we believe the Indiana LLC statute already has enough flexibility to permit LLCs to adopt the same governing principles, policies, and procedures that are pre-packaged in the benefit corporation statute without giving up the other advantages that LLCs have over corporations in general.

First, the Indiana Business Flexibility Act allows LLCs to be organized for “any business, personal, or nonprofit purpose,” which certainly seems broad enough to include the combination of business and public benefit purposes for which benefit corporations are created. Second, all of the governance, transparency, and accountability provisions of the benefit corporation statute can be incorporated into a limited liability company’s operating agreement. Finally, certification as a B-Corp is not restricted to benefit corporations – essentially any form of business entity is eligible to be certified as a B-Corp, including LLCs.

[This article is written by Rep. Casey Cox (R-Fort Wayne), the author of Indiana’s new benefit corporation statute and an attorney in the Fort Wayne office of Beers Mallers Backs & Salin, LLP, where he practices in the areas of business and corporate matters, real estate, and local government law. As we developed this series, Rep. Cox was very generous with his time and his insights into the new statute.  For that and for this article, we are grateful, and we thank him. — MS]

The last few decades have seen a dramatic increase in the number of investors who not only seek a financial return but also want to invest their money is socially and economically responsible businesses, as well as an increase in the number of consumers who want to purchase goods and services from those businesses. Many of them are frustrated by the number of companies who claim to be good corporate citizens but do not provide the transparency for investors and consumers to prove it.

The Potential Drawback to Transparency

Part I of this series briefly discussed Indiana’s new benefit corporation statute as well as certification of a company as a B Corp by B Lab and some of the their possible advantages.  Part II began a closer look at the details of the benefit corporation statute, including the question of whether the benefit corporation is a good choice for small businesses.

The “Benefit” Part of a Benefit Corporation

As we’ve mentioned before, a benefit corporation is one with purposes in addition to making money for its shareholders. All benefit corporations share the purpose of creating a general public benefit, defined as having an overall material positive impact on society and the environment.  In addition, benefit corporations may also establish for themselves the purpose of creating a specific public benefit that serves one or more public welfare, religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purpose or another purpose that goes beyond the strict interests of the shareholders.

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