Business Organizations Flashcards
To form a corporation, one must file…
Articles of Incorporation.
Where should articles of incorporation be filed?
State Corporation Commission
When one files with the SCC, what must they also do?
pay the registration fee
applies to all entity filings.
Articles of incorporation must include….
- The name of the corporation;
- A designation that it is a corporation;
- The number of authorized shares; and
- The registered agent and office.
To form an LLC, parties must file…
Articles of Organization
Where should one file articles of organization?
State Corporation Commission
Articles of organization must include…
- The name of the LLC;
- An indication that the entity is an LLC;
- The registered agent and office; and
- The principal office of the LLC.
Can an LLC convert into a corporation?
YES
To form a general partnership, what must one file?
NO FILING is required to form a general partnership.
How is a partnership formed?
Parties must intend and operate a business for profit as co-owners.
To form a limited partnership, what must one file?
A certificate of limited partnership.
A certificate of limited partnership must include…
- The name of the limited partnership;
- A designation that it is a limited partnership;
- The name and address of each general partner.
A general partnership may be converted into a limited partnership by…
approval of all partners and filing of a certificate of limited partnership.
In a general partnership, what kind of liability do partners have for the debts of the partnership?
unlimited personal liability
If investors choose to operate their business as a general partnership, they will each be….
jointly and severally liable for the debts of the business.
A limited partnership has two classes of owners, they are…
- Limited partners; and
- General partners
Can all partners in a limited partnership be limited partners?
No – a limited partnership must have at least one general partner and at least one limited partner.
Limited partners enjoy…
limited liability, and are typically notr liable for debts of the partnership.
Unlike limited partners, general partners have…
unlimited personal liability for the debts of the partnership.
In Virginia, can the mandatory general partner, itself, be an LLC?
YES – this can effectively limit all personal liability for business debts for the limited partnership.
In a corporation are shareholders liable for the debts of the corporation?
Generally NO.
When will a shareholder be personally liable for corporate debts?
When the corporate veil is pierced.
When piercing the corporate veil, a court can disregard the corporate entity and hold shareholders personally liable for the debts of the corporation if the shareholders….
fail to observe the separateness of the corporation (i.e., alter ego) and use the corporation to perpetuate fraud or injustice.
To maintain limited liability protection in a corporation, shareholders should…
follow corporate formalities and not engage in fraud.
As with a corporation, members of an LLC can lose limited liability protection if they…
fail to treat the LLC as a separate entity and misuse the limited liability form to perpetrade a fraud or injustice.
Owners/shareholders in a corporation are issued stocks based on…
their percentage of ownership interest in the corporation.
Directors in a corporation may issue…
dividends, generally payable in cash.
Shareholders are issued dividends based on…
the number of shares they hold.
While corporate shareholders do not bear losses directly….
the value of their shares can be affected by corporate losses.
Unless the members in an LLC agree otherwise, profits and losses are allocated according to…
the value of each member’s contributions to the company.
The default rule for profit and loss sharing in a general partnership is that…
partners share profits equally and losses follow profits.
The default rule for profit and loss sharing in a limited partnership is that…
profits and losses are allocated according to the value in each partner’s contributions to the partnership.
What do managers in a manager-managed LLC do?
They have management rights and decision-making authority over day-to-day operations.
In a manager-managed LLC, who owes fiduciary duties?
The manager
Shareholders, directors, and officers are generally not liable for the debts of a corporation or….
for contracts signed as agents of a corporation.
Under Virginia Law, anyone who purports to act on behalf of a corporation while knowing that the entity has not been incorporated is…
personally liable unless the other party also knew that there was no corporation.
Directors of a corporation owe fiduciary duties of…
care and loyalty to the corporation.
The duty of loyalty includes…
the duty not to misappropriate or usurp a corporate opportunity.
In determining whether an opportunity belongs to a corporation and should be offered to the corporation before a director takes it for herself, a court will consider factors such as….
the similarly of the opportunity to the business of the corporation and how the director learned of the opportunity.
The business judgment rule is a….
presumption that the directors manage the corporation in good faith and in the best interests of the corporation and its shareholders.
Directors will not be liable for innocent mistakes of…
business judgment.
Directors are fiduciaries who owe the corporation…
duties of care and loyalty.
While the Virginia Code allows corporations to cap liability of officers and directors in articles of incorporation, such cap does not apply to…
willful misconduct.