5 Critical Due Diligence Failures in the $2.8B Franchise Group Fraud
Watch this video on YouTube. The Franchise Group fraud is one of the largest leveraged buyout failures in recent history. When B. Riley Financial committed $600 million to take Franchise Group private in a $2.8 billion leveraged buyout, the deal looked like a textbook transaction. Established retail brands. Experienced management. Institutional backing. What nobody caught […]
Earnout Dispute Victory: Powerful $811M J&J Lesson
When Johnson & Johnson bought Auris Health for $3.4 billion in 2019, both sides believed they had written a clean deal. Seven years later, an earnout dispute between J&J and the former Auris shareholders has produced the largest damages award ever entered in a post-closing milestone fight — roughly $811 million — and a brand-new […]
Social Media Addiction Lawsuit: What the $6M Meta-YouTube Verdict Means for Business
On March 25, 2026, a Los Angeles jury did something no American jury had done before: it held two of the largest technology companies in the world financially responsible for designing addictive social media platforms. The social media addiction lawsuit resulted in a $6 million verdict against Meta and YouTube — and the implications reach […]
Artist Management Agreements: What a $3.8 Million Handshake Deal Teaches Every Artist and Manager
A Cook County jury just delivered a verdict in one of the most watched artist management agreement disputes in years. Chance the Rapper prevailed against his former manager, Pat Corcoran, who claimed he was owed $3.8 million under a deal that was never put in writing. The two operated on a handshake for seven years. […]
Buying a Business in Illinois: Due Diligence to Closing
Buying a business in Illinois is a structured, multi-stage process that requires legal, financial, and operational scrutiny before a dollar changes hands. Whether you are acquiring a small service business, a professional practice, or a larger operating company, the steps between identifying a target and closing a deal follow a predictable sequence — and the […]
Mistakes When Selling a Business: Why the Price You’re Promised Isn’t the Price You Get
Most business owners believe the hardest part of selling a company is negotiating the price. That assumption leads directly to the most common—and most expensive—mistakes when selling a business. The real risk isn’t whether the headline number looks good. It’s whether that number survives the legal machinery that follows. Sophisticated buyers know this. They use […]