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Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 21.563

CLOSELY HELD CORPORATION

Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Swank v. Cunningham (2008)

Most recently applied in Arturo Guajardo Individually and Derivatively as a Shareholder, Member or Party in Buyer Development Services, Inc. A.K.A. Improve My Credit USA v. Troy Hitt, Joe Orsak, Randall Chesnutt, and Buyer Development Services, Inc. (October 2018)

Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 182, Sec. 1, eff

How often courts cite this section

20082010201810
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) In this section, "closely held corporation" means a corporation that has:

(1) fewer than 35 shareholders; and

(2) no shares listed on a national securities exchange or regularly quoted in an over-the-counter market by one or more members of a national securities association.

(b) Sections 21.552-21.560 do not apply to a derivative proceeding by a shareholder of a closely held corporation against a present or former director, officer, or shareholder of the corporation. In the event the shareholder also asserts a claim in the derivative proceeding against a person who is not a present or former director, officer, or shareholder, this subsection applies only to a claim in the derivative proceeding against a present or former director, officer, or shareholder.

(c) If Sections 21.552-21.560 do not apply because of Subsection (b) and if justice requires:

(1) a derivative proceeding brought by a shareholder of a closely held corporation may be treated by a court as a direct action brought by the shareholder for the shareholder's own benefit; and

(2) a recovery in a direct or derivative proceeding by a shareholder may be paid directly to the plaintiff or to the corporation if necessary to protect the interests of creditors or other shareholders of the corporation.

(d) Other provisions of state law govern whether a shareholder has a direct cause of action or right to sue a director, officer, or shareholder, and this section may not be construed to create that direct cause of action or right to sue.

Official source: Texas Constitution and Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Texas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.