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Cooperative Governance

Cooperative Litigation Update: N.C. Court Rules on Coop’s Discounting Program

In another lawsuit concerning cooperatives’ capital credit practices, a North Carolina trial court ruled in favor of a cooperative that we previously wrote about in another blog post.

The court ruled, based on the facts at issue, that the cooperative had no fiduciary duty to the plaintiffs, which were a group of deceased members’ estates.  In addition, it declared that the cooperative had authority to adopt a procedure for retiring deceased members’ capital credits on an accelerated and discounted basis.  However, it expressly did not rule on whether the cooperative, in practice, properly discounted the capital credits.   In other words, the court reserved judgment on the specific manner of discounting the particular capital credits at issue in this case. Read More »Cooperative Litigation Update: N.C. Court Rules on Coop’s Discounting Program

Cooperative Litigation Update: Texas Cooperative Lawsuit Considered on Appeal

Earlier this past July, the Texas Court of Appeals ruled on important aspects of the cooperative lawsuit concerning Denton County Electric Cooperative, Inc., d/b/a CoServ Electric (“CoServ”).  The court ruled, among other things, that (i) the cooperative was not subject to certain statutory rules governing non-profit corporations, and (ii) the electric cooperative statute did not impose a fiduciary duty on the cooperative itself.  Read More »Cooperative Litigation Update: Texas Cooperative Lawsuit Considered on Appeal

Guest Blog: Preparing Your Cooperative Staff for an Election

This blog post was prepared by guest blogger Tim Madsen of Survey & Ballot Systems. 

A cooperative, by definition, is an association of people voluntarily united to meet a common goal through democratic process and voluntary membership. Democratic cooperative governance requires an elected board that sets policies and makes decisions that are in the best interest of its members. In order for this to happen, members must have the opportunity to participate in well-run, open elections.Read More »Guest Blog: Preparing Your Cooperative Staff for an Election