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(Michigan) Multiple company names - which one to list on lawsuit?

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zddoodah

Active Member
the owner was the person I directly spoke to while dealing with the company. Does that change things at all?
Not really. Corporations and LLCs can only operate through actual human beings. If you call my company, you'll speak to an actual human being. If you end up wanting to sue my company, the human to whom you spoke isn't liable just because you happened to have a conversation with him/her. If the person with whom you spoke was acting in his/her capacity as an agent of the LLC, that is not even close to enough to make out alter ego liability. If you want to learn about this legal concept, you can click the link "adjusterjack" provided. However, the gist of it is that corporate/LLC fiction may be disregarded if the owner(s) of the corporation or LLC are not treating the entity as a separate legal entity. The evidence needed to prove something like that includes failure to observe corporate/LLC formalities, commingling personal and business assets, failure to adequately capitalize the business, using personal accounts for business purposes (and vice versa), paying personal expenses from business accounts, and many other things. Thus far, you have not posted any fact that would cause any reasonable person to believe the owner(s) of Organization is 123, LLC, doing business as ABC might be liable to you on an alter ego theory.

One other thing to keep in mind is that alter ego claims are typically very discovery intensive. In case you don't know, discovery is the process whereby parties to a lawsuit obtain documents and information from each other before trial. I don't know about Michigan, but some states don't allow pretrial discovery in small claims cases and, in general, small claims courts, which are/should be designed to be quick and easy for non-attorneys, aren't well-suited for an alter ego claim.
 


adjusterjack

Senior Member
The evidence needed to prove something like that includes failure to observe corporate/LLC formalities, commingling personal and business assets, failure to adequately capitalize the business, using personal accounts for business purposes (and vice versa), paying personal expenses from business accounts, and many other things.
Single member, or two member, LLCs are sometimes more vulnerable to an "alter ego" claim because the people running the business might not be astute enough to understand the mistakes they are making.
 

quincy

Senior Member
... I don't know about Michigan, but some states don't allow pretrial discovery in small claims cases and, in general, small claims courts, which are/should be designed to be quick and easy for non-attorneys, aren't well-suited for an alter ego claim.
There is no discovery permitted in Michigan small claims courts.

ezbreezy123z, your district court clerk should provide you with instruction sheets on filing a civil action (and defending against one). These instructions are available free of charge at all district courts in Michigan.
 

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