Tag Archives: liability

California LLC Member and Manager Duties to the LLC and to Each Other

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California LLC Member and Manager Duties to the LLC and to Each Other

In a member-managed LLC, each member owes a duty of loyalty and a duty of care to the LLC and to the other members.

In a manager-managed LLC, each manager owes a duty of loyalty and a duty of care to the LLC and to the members. Members who are not managers do not owe the duty of loyalty or the duty of care.

Note however that you also must read (and understand) the operating agreement to determine if any of these duties are expanded; to determine if any of these duties are reduced or purportedly eliminated (they cannot be eliminated); and, in a member-managed LLC, to determine if any of these duties are shifted from one member to one or more other members.

Issues, questions and disputes about legal responsibilities/duties and rights pursuant to these duties usually don’t arise or usually are relatively uncomplicated while the LLC members and managers are dealing with each other honestly, openly, and fully, as in most businesses and situations. In my practice I handle situations and represent clients where legal responsibilities and rights and the actions and inactions of the people who are involved are seriously at issue. And you can see from the wording and definitions in these materials that there can be significant uncertainty and vagueness about exactly what the responsibilities and rights are and can be in different situations.

Duty of Loyalty. The duty of loyalty is limited to the following unless the operating agreement provides otherwise (again, you must read and understand the operating agreement):

Account and Accounting. An LLC member in a member-managed LLC, or a manager in a manger-managed LLC must account to the LLC and hold as a trustee any property, profit, or benefit, that the member or manager, respectively, derives in the conduct of the LLC or in the winding up of the LLC’s activities, or from the use of the LLC’s property including but not limited to the appropriation of an LLC opportunity.  Also take note whether a specific member or a specific manager is tasked with the function of accounting for the LLC.

Adverse Interest. Each member (in a member-managed LLC) and each manager (in a manager-managed LLC) must not deal with the LLC, or on behalf of a person with respect to the LLC, as an interest adverse to the LLC.

Competing with the LLC. Each member (in a member-managed LLC) and each manager (in a manager-managed LLC) must not compete with the LLC in the conduct of the LLC or in the winding up of the LLC’s activities.

Duty of Care. The duty of care in the conduct of the LLC or in the winding up of the LLC’s activities is limited to not committing gross negligence or reckless conduct, intentional misconduct, or a knowing violation of law. However, you must read and understand the operating agreement as it is permissible for the agreement to expand the standard of culpability to ordinary or simple negligence.

Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing. In both a member-managed and in a manager-managed LLC, members and managers have a duty of good faith and fair dealing to the LLC and to the other members – for example, to not obtain an advantage or benefit by any misrepresentation or concealment or other means. And this is true whether the duties arise under the California Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (CRULLCA) or the LLC’s operating agreement. A duty of good faith and fair dealing is a duty of care; however, you can also see that it is a duty of care that is separate from the culpability standards.

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Remember, every case and situation is different. It is important to obtain and evaluate all of the evidence that is available, and to apply that evidence to the applicable standards and laws. You do need to consult with an attorney and other professionals about your particular situation. This post is not a solicitation for legal or other services inside of or outside of California, and, of course, this post only is a summary of information that changes from time to time, and does not apply to any particular situation or to your specific situation. So . . . you cannot rely on this post for your situation or as legal or other professional advice or representation.

Thank you for reading this post. I ask that you also pass it along to other people who would be interested as it is through collaboration that great things and success occur more quickly. And please also subscribe to this blog and my other blog (see below), and connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Best to you, David Tate, Esq. (and inactive California CPA) – practicing in California only.

I am also the Chair of the Business Law Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Blogs: Trust, estate/probate, power of attorney, conservatorship, elder and dependent adult abuse, nursing home and care, disability, discrimination, personal injury, responsibilities and rights, and other related litigation, and contentious administrations http://californiaestatetrust.com; Business, D&O, board, director, audit committee, shareholder, founder, owner, and investor litigation, governance, responsibilities and rights, compliance, investigations, and risk management  http://auditcommitteeupdate.com

My law practice primarily involves the following areas and issues:

Probate Court Disputes and Litigation

  • Trust and estate disputes and litigation, and contentious administrations representing fiduciaries and beneficiaries; elder abuse; power of attorney disputes; elder care and nursing home abuse; conservatorships; claims to real and personal property; and other related disputes and litigation.

Business and Business-Related Disputes and Litigation: Private, Closely Held, and Family Businesses; Public Companies; and Nonprofit Entities

  • Business v. business disputes including breach of contract; unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices; fraud, deceit and misrepresentation; unfair competition; breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing; etc.
  • Misappropriation of trade secrets
  • M&A disputes
  • Founder, officer, director and board, investor, shareholder, creditor, VC, control, governance, decision making, fiduciary duty, conflict of interest, voting, etc., disputes
  • Buy-sell disputes
  • Funding and share dilution disputes
  • Accounting, lost profits, and royalty disputes
  • Access to corporate and business records disputes
  • Employee, employer and workplace disputes, discrimination, whistleblower and retaliation, harassment, defamation, etc.

Investigations and Governance

  • Corporate and business internal investigations
  • Board, audit committee and special committee governance and processes, disputes, conflicts of interest, independence, etc.

The following are copies of the tables of contents of three of the more formal materials that I have written over the years about accounting/auditing, audit committees, and related legal topics – Accounting and Its Legal Implications was my first formal effort, which resulted in a published book that had more of an accounting and auditing focus; Chapter 5A, Audit Committee Functions and Responsibilities, for the California Continuing Education of the Bar has a more legal focus; and the most recent Tate’s Excellent Audit Committee Guide (February 2017) also has a more legal focus:

Accounting and Its Legal Implications

Chapter 5A, Audit Committee Functions and Responsibilities, CEB Advising and Defending Corporate Directors and Officers

Tate’s Excellent Audit Committee Guide

The following are other summary materials that you might find useful:

OVERVIEW OF A RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS THAT YOU CAN USE 03162018

Audit Committee 5 Lines of Success, Diligence, and Defense - David Tate, Esq, 05052018

COSO Enterprise Risk Management Framework ERM Components and Principles

From a prior blog post which you can find at https://wp.me/p75iWX-dk if the below scan is too difficult to read:

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Does Your Audit Committee Charter List Risk Management?

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If you are an audit committee member of a public company your audit committee charter might and in some cases must in some manner list risk management oversight as a responsibility.

If you are a nonprofit, private business or company, or governmental entity, and if you have an audit committee charter, your charter also might list risk management oversight, and if it doesn’t, then that oversight is the sole responsibility of the entire board.

In relevant part for example the NYSE Listed Company Manual states under Audit Committee Additional Requirements that the audit committee’s purpose in part at a minimum must be to:

  1. Assist board oversight of (1) the integrity of the listed company’s financial statements, (2) the listed company’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) the independent auditor’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of the listed company’s internal audit function and independent auditors (if the listed company does not yet have an internal audit function because it is availing itself of a transition period pursuant to Section 303A.00, the charter must provide that the committee will assist board oversight of the design and implementation of the internal audit function); and
  2. Discuss policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management.

And under related Commentary with respect to risk assessment and management: While it is the job of the CEO and senior management to assess and manage the listed company’s exposure to risk, the audit committee must discuss guidelines and policies to govern the process by which this is handled. The audit committee should discuss the listed company’s major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken to monitor and control such exposures. The audit committee is not required to be the sole body responsible for risk assessment and management, but, as stated above, the committee must discuss guidelines and policies to govern the process by which risk assessment and management is undertaken. Many companies, particularly financial companies, manage and assess their risk through mechanisms other than the audit committee. The processes these companies have in place should be reviewed in a general manner by the audit committee, but they need not be replaced by the audit committee.

The Listed Company Manual also states that each listed company must have an internal audit function.

And under related Commentary with respect to the internal audit function: Listed companies must maintain an internal audit function to provide management and the audit committee with ongoing assessments of the listed company’s risk management processes and system of internal control. A listed company may choose to outsource this function to a third party service provider other than its independent auditor. While Section 303A.00 permits certain categories of newly-listed companies to avail themselves of a transition period to comply with the internal audit function requirement, all listed companies must have an internal audit function in place no later than the first anniversary of the company’s listing date.

Further, General Commentary to Section 303A.07 states: To avoid any confusion, note that the audit committee functions specified in Section 303A.07 are the sole responsibility of the audit committee and may not be allocated to a different committee.

From an audit committee member perspective, here’s the issue that I have with risk management oversight – it’s whether the audit committee and the board primarily, and possibly other necessary stakeholders or people involved, really have reached an understanding about what that “risk management” oversight means, both in terms of substantive risk oversight areas that are (and therefore also that aren’t) included in your oversight responsibilities, and exactly what you are expected to do to satisfy that oversight? And then, how those areas and responsibilities are described in the charter. Without clarification the term “risk management” is or can be vague and potentially extremely broad.

As risk management oversight has grown, or you might say, exploded, in importance for the board and its committees, over the past several years I have regularly received materials from risk management professionals discussing and disagreeing about exactly what risk management is, what terms and criteria to use, and how to go about performing risk management. I’m not trying to duplicate their efforts. But risk management can be a complicated area requiring a substantial investment of oversight effort and time. Obviously it’s an important area for the board, and for an audit committee or risk committee to which that oversight has been delegated. Even with delegation to a committee, the board should still maintain risk management oversight.

And risk management also is an area that relates to other areas of oversight such as internal controls (COSO 2013), personal safety, anonymous reporting processes and investigations, compliance with laws, and other areas.

You as an audit committee member, and other stakeholders need to understand what is involved, and what is expected of you, so that hopefully, to the extent possible (because it isn’t possible to avoid all surprise or unexpected situations) the important possible risks or surprises and related processes that are under your oversight have been and are being evaluated, addressed (designed and implemented), monitored and updated as necessary, including what to do and how to act to mitigate and remedy the situation if a surprise or unexpected situation does occur.

You can find additional discussions on this blog and on Tate’s Excellent Audit Committee Guide, the January 3, 2016, version of which can be found at http://wp.me/p75iWX-q

Wishing you the best.

Dave Tate, Esq. and CPA licensed in California (inactive), San Francisco and California

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