Shareholders' Agreements: Best Weapon To Fight Corporate Oppression

Originally published on LegalWriter.net, 4th January 2021.

By Julius Melnitzer

If there's doubt in anyone's mind about the superior protection shareholders' agreements provide for aggrieved investors, the Ontario Superior Court's decision in Murray v. Pier 21 makes the case in spades.

"We frequently get pushback from clients who say that they have perfect relationships with the other shareholders, and that they'll think about a shareholders' agreement when and if the time comes," says Charlie Kim, a corporate-commercial lawyer who focuses on private companies at Robins Appleby LLP in Toronto. "But if relationships go off the rails, it's important to have something that will evidence their intentions when things were going right."