Olson v. Halvorsen

Summary

Post-trial oral arguments after Vice Chancellor Lamb ruled the statute of frauds applied to an LLC agreement.

Brian Olson was one of three co-founders of long/short equity hedge fund Viking Global Management, along with David Ott and Andreas Halverson. Olson sought to recover pursuant to a termination provision in an LLC agreement that provided for various equity and income splits among the three owners, but gave Halverson majority rights.

Viking generated revenue by charging a 1.5% management fee for funds invested, plus 20% of any profits gained.

Outcome

Found that if an LLC agreement contains a provision or multiple provisions which cannot possibly be performed within one year, such provision or provisions are unenforceable.

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Olson, Brian
Defense: Viking Global Finance

Judge: Stephen Lamb
Jurisdiction: Delaware Court Of Chancery
Court: New Castle County Courthouse

Case Number: 1884
Industry: Finance
Practice Area: Employment Law, Business Organizations

Plaintiff

Olson, Brian

Represented By:
Seitz, Collins (Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP)
Garley, R. (Gibbons P.C.)
Nagel, Jeffery (Gibbons P.C.)
Stoutenburg , Mark (Gibbons P.C.)

Defense

Viking Global Finance

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

3 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Garley, R.	Olson, Mr. Brian	In Person
01:26:13	Break
01:40:02	Witness Direct Examination	Garley, R.	Olson, Mr. Brian	In Person

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

NOV

AM Session

Not in Session

0 Chapters

PM Session

Not in Session

0 Chapters

NOV

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:10	Witness Cross Examination	Bennett, James	Olson, Mr. Brian	In Person
01:30:40	Break
01:49:22	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Garley, R.	Olson, Mr. Brian	In Person
01:57:23	Witness Direct Examination	Seitz, Collins	Finnerty, Dr. John	In Person

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:08	Witness Direct Examination	Seitz, Collins	Finnerty, Dr. John	In Person
00:41:11	Witness Cross Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Finnerty, Dr. John	In Person
01:37:06	Break
01:53:50	Witness Cross Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Finnerty, Dr. John	In Person
03:00:33	Witness Direct Examination	Bennett, James	Ott, David	In Person

NOV

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

3 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:15	Witness Direct Examination	Bennett, James	Ott, David	In Person
01:04:20	Witness Cross Examination	Garley, R.	Ott, David	In Person
02:40:17	End of Session

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

2 Chapters

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:05	Witness Cross Examination	Garley, R.	Ott, David	In Person
		03:05:42	End of Session

DEC

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Garley, R.	Ott, David	In Person
00:09:13	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Bennett, James	Ott, David	In Person
00:16:00	Witness Direct Examination	Buergel, Susanna	Smith, Mr. Brian	In Person
01:31:25	Break
01:47:00	Witness Direct Examination	Buergel, Susanna	Smith, Mr. Brian	In Person
02:15:18	Witness Cross Examination	Stoutenburg , Mark		In Person

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Stoutenburg , Mark	Smith, Mr. Brian	In Person
00:28:20	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Buergel, Susanna	Smith, Mr. Brian	In Person
00:34:00	Witness Direct Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Webber, Eric	In Person
01:23:35	Witness Cross Examination	Stoutenburg , Mark	Webber, Eric	In Person
01:39:20	Break
01:52:30	Witness Cross Examination	Stoutenburg , Mark	Webber, Eric	In Person
02:02:00	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Webber, Eric	In Person
02:07:00	Witness Direct Examination	Bennett, James	Cahill, Dan	In Person
02:39:00	Witness Cross Examination	Garley, R.	Cahill, Dan	In Person
02:46:00	Witness Direct Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Halverson, Andreas	In Person

DEC

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Halverson, Andreas	In Person
01:24:00	Break
01:44:30	Witness Direct Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Halverson, Andreas	In Person
02:11:15	Witness Cross Examination	Garley, R.	Halverson, Andreas	In Person

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Buergel, Susanna	Purcell, Mr. Tom	In Person
00:19:00	Break	Buergel, Susanna	Purcell, Mr. Tom	In Person
01:03:00	Witness Direct Examination	Buergel, Susanna	Purcell, Mr. Tom	In Person
01:26:00	Witness Cross Examination	Nagel, Jeffery	Purcell, Mr. Tom	In Person
01:57:30	Break
02:12:00	Witness Direct Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Saha, Atanu	In Person

DEC

AM Session

Not in Session

0 Chapters

PM Session

Closings

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Saha, Atanu	In Person
01:11:30	Witness Cross Examination	Stoutenburg , Mark	Saha, Atanu	In Person
01:58:00	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Saha, Atanu	In Person
02:06:22	Break
02:19:15	Witness Direct Examination	Stoutenburg , Mark	Finnerty, Dr. John	In Person
02:46:20	Witness Cross Examination	Birenboim, Bruce	Finnerty, Dr. John	In Person
02:59:20	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Stoutenburg , Mark	Finnerty, Dr. John	In Person
03:00:30	Witness Direct Examination	Seitz, Collins	Olson, Mr. Brian	In Person
03:04:50	Witness Cross Examination	Bennett, James	Olson, Mr. Brian	In Person
03:11:40	Closing Statement	Seitz, Collins

DEC

Olson v. Halvorsen

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

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