Attorneys from our Denver office, Byeongsook Seo and Laurie Rust, helped two real estate investors obtain dismissal from a Denver lawsuit, Urban-1530 16th Street, LLC v. Lemon, et al., where the plaintiff asserted claims of fraudulent transfer, civil conspiracy, piercing corporate veil and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty against the investors.
The investors were limited partners of a limited partnership association, where the managing partner was a limited liability company. The limited partnership association was designed to invest in real estate projects throughout Colorado. The managing partner had transferred certain property into a limited partnership association at the investors' direction. Unbeknownst to the investors, the plaintiff was a judgment creditor of the managing partner and claimed that the transfer of property was an act of fraudulent transfer and a breach of the managing partner's fiduciary duty to the plaintiff.
The managing partner settled plaintiff's claims against it, but Byeongsook and Laurie filed a motion to dismiss all claims asserted against the investors due to the plaintiff's failure to meet the heightened pleading standards required for fraudulent transfer and the breach of fiduciary duty claims – the very claims that managing partner settled and the very claims that served as the basis for the conspiracy, corporate piercing and aiding and abetting claims.
The court agreed with the Denver team's argument and dismissed all claims against the investors but gave the plaintiff the opportunity to amend its complaint to overcome its defects. Instead of facing the possibility of further motions to dismiss from our litigation team, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed its claims against the investors with prejudice.