Business Law
GreenHunter Energy, Inc.: The Rare Case When the Limited Liability Veil Will Be Pierced in Wyoming (And Probably in Every Other Jurisdiction)
By: Marty L. Oblasser, Partner, Corthell and King, PC
In 2009, GreenHunter Wind Energy, LLC (“GreenHunter LLC”) entered into a contract with Western Ecosystems Technology (“Western”) for consulting services concerning the potential development of a wind turbine farm in Platte County, Wyoming. Between March of 2009 and July of 2010, Western performed the requested services pursuant to the terms of the contract and billed GreenHunter LLC $43,646.10 for those services. GreenHunter LLC never made any payments toward the outstanding balance, so Western pursued legal action. The trial court entered judgment against GreenHunter LLC in the amount of $43,646.10 for the unpaid bill plus $2,161.84 for attorney’s fees incurred by Western in its effort to compel discovery. Western quickly realized that GreenHunter LLC had no assets with which to pay the judgments. Accordingly, Western sought to pierce GreenHunter LLC’s limited liability veil and hold GreenHunter Energy Inc. (“Member”), the sole member of GreenHunter LLC, liable for the amount of the judgment and discovery sanctions. The trial court found in favor of Western and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed its decision.
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