Dean Emeritus Weidner Provides Keynote for 2019 LLC Institute

TALLAHASSEE — On November 7, FSU Law Dean Emeritus and Alumni Centennial Professor Donald J. Weidner delivered the keynote address at the 2019 LLC Institute in Tampa. The event, sponsored by the American Bar Association Business Law Section, offered nine CLE programs on the latest developments in LLCs, partnerships and other unincorporated entities. Weidner’s address, “LLC Default Rules Are Hazardous to Member Liquidity,” critiqued the shift to current LLC rules, which lock members in to perpetual entities, deny them liquidity rights and limit their access to judicial remedies. “My basic point is that current default rules fail to reflect the presumed intent of the thousands of small groups of entrepreneurs who form LLCs,” said Weidner. “They are unwittingly locking themselves in to corporate-type entities with no market for their shares.”  

Weidner was the reporter for the Revised Uniform Partnership Act (1994) (RUPA), and gave the RUPA perspective on choosing default rules for small business. He explained how LLC law has moved away from LLP law on the two key issues of member liquidity and easy access to member remedies.

Weidner is a recognized authority on partnerships, limited liability companies and real estate finance. He is co-author of The Revised Uniform Partnership Act and has written on law firm breakups, limited liability companies and complex leasing arrangements. Weidner served as dean of the FSU College of Law for almost 25 years, returning to the full-time teaching faculty in 2016.