Broida v. Bancroft

103 A.D.2d 88, 478 N.Y.S.2d 333, 1984 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 18855
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJuly 23, 1984
StatusPublished
Cited by78 cases

This text of 103 A.D.2d 88 (Broida v. Bancroft) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Broida v. Bancroft, 103 A.D.2d 88, 478 N.Y.S.2d 333, 1984 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 18855 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Titone, J. P.

In this shareholders’ derivative action, plaintiffs appeal from two orders of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County. The first order granted defendants’ cross motion to dismiss the complaint, the court finding that the litigation concerned the internal affairs of a foreign corporation and “[i]n the exercise of discretion * * * refusing] jurisdiction”. The second order was made upon reargument and adhered to the original determination. We conclude that, in light of the substantial nexus of this litigation with New York, it was an improvident exercise of discretion to decline jurisdiction.

In January, 1984, the board of directors of the defendant Dow Jones & Company (hereinafter Dow) announced that a recapitalization stock-split plan would be submitted for ultimate approval at the annual meeting of Dow’s stockholders. The plan provided for the issuance of a stock dividend of one share of newly issued class B stock for every two shares of existing common stock. The new class B stock would have 10 voting rights per share, while the existing common stock would continue to retain a single vote per share. In addition to the radical change in voting rights, the plan would also place severe restrictions on the transferability of the new class B common shares.

The stated purpose of the reorganization is to substantially benefit Dow’s majority shareholder group, all members of a single family owning 56.2% of Dow stock. If ratified and implemented, the proposal would enable the family to sell more than 50% of their present holdings, thereby obtaining needed personal capital, while simultaneously retaining voting control of the company.

In order to protect their interest from these consequences, the plaintiffs, shareholders of Dow, brought this action on behalf of themselves and all other minority shareholders similarly situated, and on behalf of Dow derivatively, for permanent injunctive relief. By motion, [90]*90they sought a preliminary injunction and expedited discovery. Defendants opposed plaintiffs’ motion and cross-moved to dismiss the action upon the ground that it concerned the “internal affairs” of a foreign corporation, Dow having been incorporated in Delaware.

Following oral argument, Special Term granted the cross motion, thus rendering plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and other relief moot. We expedited the appeal and temporarily enjoined Dow from putting the recapitalization plan into effect. We now remit the matter to the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, for further proceedings.

At one time, many jurisdictions followed a doctrine to the effect that the courts of one State would not “interfere with or control by injunction or otherwise the management of the internal affairs of a corporation organized under the laws of another State but [would] leave controversies as to such matters to the courts of the State of the domicile” (Rogers v Guaranty Trust Co., 288 US 123, 130; see Jurisdiction of Actions or Proceedings Involving Internal Affairs of Foreign Corporations, Ann., 155 ALR 1231; 17 Fletcher’s Cyclopedia Corporations [rev ed], § 8425). On this basis, suits brought by domestic shareholders against foreign corporations were often dismissed when the shareholder was affected solely in his capacity as a member of the corporation (Langfelder v Universal Labs., 293 NY 200; Cohn v Mishkoff Costello Co., 256 NY 102).

Older cases tended to view the doctrine as jurisdictional, justifying the refusal to entertain such litigation on the premises that it was inadvisable to interpret the law of another State, that the possibility of conflicting decisions should be avoided, and that the court’s judgment might not be enforceable elsewhere (see Ann., 155 ALR 1231, 1233-1235; Comment, Forum Non Conveniens as a Substitute for the Internal Affairs Rule, 58 Col L Rev 234, 234-235). The doctrine was nonetheless subject to numerous exceptions, and other decisions tended to view the question as one of discretion, based on considerations of convenience and public policy, not a lack of power (Goldstein v Lightner, 266 App Div 357, 358, affd 292 NY 670; Samuelson v Starr, 28 Misc 2d 479, 480 [Samuel Rabin, J.]; Levy v Pacific [91]*91Eastern Corp., 153 Misc 488, 489-490; 17 Fletcher’s Cyclopedia Corporations [rev ed], §§ 8425-8428; Henn and Alexander, Corporations [3d ed], § 86).

The doctrine was questioned by the Supreme Court of the United States in Williams v Green Bay & Western R. R. Co. (326 US 549) and abrogated entirely in the Federal courts a year later in Koster v Lumbermens Mut. Co. (330 US 518, 527), the court holding, in effect, that the “internal affairs” rule is not entitled to separate status and should be treated as one facet under general principles of forum non conveniens. The Restatement of Conflict of Laws, Second (§ 84, Comment d), and numerous commentators, take the same position (Henn and Alexander, Corporations [3d ed], § 86; Weintraub, Conflict of Laws [2d ed], § 4.33, p 211; Latty, Pseudo-Foreign Corporations, 65 Yale LJ 137, 144; Comment, Forum Non Conveniens as a Substitute for the Internal Affairs Rule, 58 Col L Rev 234; Comment, Internal Affairs Rule in Federal Courts — The Erie Problem, 115 U of Pa L Rev 973). The Koster case (supra) has often been utilized as the focal point for analysis by the courts of this State (e.g., Bader & Bader v Ford, 66 AD2d 642, 645, app dsmd 48 NY2d 649; Field v Jordan, 14 AD2d 845; 43-49 Chenango St. Corp. v Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 6 Misc 2d 788; Novich v Rojtman, 5 Misc 2d 1029).

“The vague principle that courts will not interfere with the internal affairs of a corporation whose foreignness is at best a metaphysical concept, must fall before the practical necessities of the modern business world” (Note, 44 Harv L Rev 437,439). We therefore hold that a suit which concerns the internal affairs of a foreign corporation should be entertained unless the same factors that would lead to dismissal under forum non conveniens principles suggest that New York is an inconvenient forum and that litigation in another forum would better accord with the legitimate interests of the litigants and the public (see Royal China v Regal China Corp., 304 NY 309, 312-313; Goldstein v Lightner, 266 App Div 357, affd 292 NY 670, supra; Weintraub, Conflict of Laws [2d ed], § 4.33, p 211). As succinctly put in the Restatement, “[a] court will exercise jurisdiction over an action involving the internal affairs of a foreign corporation unless it is an inappropriate or an [92]*92inconvenient forum for the trial of the action” (Restatement, Conflict of Laws 2d, § 313).

Consideration of all relevant factors compels the conclusion that plaintiffs should not be deprived of their chosen forum (cf. Westwood Assoc. v Deluxe Gen., 53 NY2d 618, affg 73 AD2d 572; Irrigation & Ind. Dev. Corp. v Indag, S.A., 37 NY2d 522; Fertel v Resorts Int., 35 NY2d 895; Silver v Great Amer. Ins. Co., 29 NY2d 356). Defendants have not carried their burden of establishing that litigation in New York would be inconvenient and that the ends of justice and the convenience of the parties would best be served if the litigation were to proceed elsewhere (see Islamic Republic of Iran v Pahlavi, 62 NY2d 474, 479; Banco Ambrosiano v Artoc Bank & Trust, 62 NY2d 65, 74; Bader & Bader v Ford,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ezrasons, Inc. v. Rudd
2025 NY Slip Op 03008 (New York Court of Appeals, 2025)
Oasis Invs. II Master Fund Ltd. v. Mo
2024 NY Slip Op 50520(U) (New York Supreme Court, New York County, 2024)
J.S.S. v. H.S.
2024 NY Slip Op 50447(U) (New York Supreme Court, Kings County, 2024)
People ex rel. Carroll v. Keyser
2020 NY Slip Op 3169 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2020)
Caffrey v. North Arrow Abstract & Settlement Servs., Inc.
2018 NY Slip Op 1043 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2018)
Donohue v. 90 N. 5th St., LLC
Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 2016
Matter of Raharney Capital, LLC v. Capital Stack LLC
138 A.D.3d 83 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2016)
Flagstar Bank, FSB v. Titus
120 A.D.3d 469 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2014)
Swedish v. Beizer
77 A.D.3d 649 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2010)
Ferluckaj v. Goldman Sachs & Co.
50 A.D.3d 359 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2008)
Walker v. City of New York
46 A.D.3d 278 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2007)
Kent v. Kent
29 A.D.3d 123 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2006)
PT. Bank Mizuho Indonesia v. PT. Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper Corp.
25 A.D.3d 470 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2006)
Ghaffari v. North Rockland Central School District
23 A.D.3d 342 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2005)
News America Marketing, Inc. v. Lepage Bakeries, Inc.
16 A.D.3d 146 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2005)
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Superior Court
8 Cal. Rptr. 3d 56 (California Court of Appeal, 2003)
Heinemeyer v. State of New York Power Authority
229 A.D.2d 841 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996)
Rochester Telephone Mobile Communications v. Cole
224 A.D.2d 918 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996)
Sturman v. Singer
213 A.D.2d 324 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1995)
In re the Dissolution of Hospital Diagnostic Equipment Corp.
205 A.D.2d 459 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 A.D.2d 88, 478 N.Y.S.2d 333, 1984 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 18855, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/broida-v-bancroft-nyappdiv-1984.