Napkin Litigation™: Co-Ownership Disputes in Real Estate and Closely Held Businesses

Business owners, investors, developers, founders, family members, and real estate co-owners frequently enter ventures without fully documenting ownership rights, governance procedures, valuation mechanisms, buyout provisions, or exit strategies. Increasingly, these relationships are memorialized through emails, text messages, AI-generated contracts, template agreements, handshake deals, or incomplete governance documents.

When disputes arise, attorneys are often asked to determine who owns what, who controls decision-making, what rights exist upon a breakdown in the relationship, and what remedies are available when the documentation is incomplete, inconsistent, or silent. These disputes routinely involve overlapping issues of LLC law, corporate law, partnership law, real estate law, fiduciary duties, valuation rights, accounting claims, and equitable remedies.

This introductory program serves as the foundation for the broader Napkin Litigation™ educational initiative and provides attorneys with a practical framework for identifying and analyzing co-ownership disputes involving closely held businesses and real estate. Participants will examine common ownership disputes, governance failures, and litigation risks arising from informal agreements and defective documentation.

Learning Objectives:

1. Distinguish between common causes of action and remedies arising from co-ownership disputes in business entities and real estate
2. Evaluate direct and derivative claims in disputes involving shareholders, members, partners, and co-owners
3. Identify key documents and evidence used to establish ownership rights, governance authority, and valuation positions
4. Analyze statutory and equitable remedies available when ownership arrangements are disputed or poorly documented
5. Recognize legal, business, and ethical risks that commonly arise when informal ownership arrangements break down