Peter A. Mahler concentrates his litigation practice on business divorce cases involving dissolution and other disputes among co-owners of closely held business entities, such as limited liability companies, corporations, and partnerships. He represents both control and non-control owners, often involving family-owned businesses. Peter frequently counsels business owners prior to litigation, not only to advise them of their rights, but to assist in designing and negotiating an amicable separation of the parties. His counsel helps avoid litigation by means of a buy-out, sale, or division of business assets.
Peter has decades of litigation experience prosecuting and defending business divorce cases at the trial and appellate levels, as well as in mediation and arbitration proceedings. He also works closely with appraisers involved in the valuation of business interests in appraisal contests, such as elective buy-outs in dissolution proceedings and dissenting shareholder appraisals following cash-out mergers.
His longstanding focus on business divorce, both for his clients and as a prolific author and lecturer, has made him a widely recognized authority on dissolution and valuation proceedings involving closely held business entities. He frequently lectures on diverse business divorce topics at continuing education programs for lawyers, judges, and appraisers, and a number of his published articles have been cited in judicial opinions and law reviews.
For over 15 years, Peter has published a widely followed blog called New York Business Divorce, which has well over 800 articles covering all aspects of dissolution and dissenting shareholder proceedings, involving limited liability companies, corporations, and partnerships, business valuation, and more. He also produces the podcast Business Divorce Roundtable, on which he interviews experts in the field of business divorce, including lawyers, law professors, and business appraisers.
Peter is a Founding Fellow of the American College of LLC and Partnership Attorneys.
Beginning in 2021, Peter authors the Practice Commentaries in McKinney’s Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated for the Limited Liability Company Law and the Revised Limited Partnership Act.