Three business emergencies need a response measured in days rather than months: being shut out of your own company, watching a partner move money, and discovering an employee left with the client list. Each has a specific statutory lever in the District of Columbia — a member’s right to inspect the records, a creditor’s right to have a receiver appointed over a transferred asset, and an injunction against actual or threatened misappropriation of a trade secret. Each also has a deadline, and evidence in all three disappears quickly.
Emergency business relief — court intervention sought before a case is tried, to stop something that cannot be undone later — continuing dissipation of company money, use of a stolen trade secret, or exclusion of an owner from the records and the business. It is decided on affidavits and documents, which is why the first week of preservation usually decides it.
What matters in the first week?
Preservation, not pleading. In all three of these situations the decisive evidence is electronic and perishable — access logs, email, accounting entries, download and USB activity, and the records the other side controls. Send a litigation hold, capture what you can still reach, and do not tip off the other side before the evidence is secured where doing so would let them destroy it.
| The situation | The immediate lever | Authority | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| A partner has locked you out of the books and the building | Demand inspection; company must also furnish material information without demand | § 29–804.10(a) | 3 years (§ 12–301(8)) |
| A partner is moving company money out | Avoidance, attachment, injunction, and appointment of a receiver over the asset | § 28–3104, § 28–3107 | See § 28–3108 |
| An employee left with the client list or the designs | Injunction against actual or threatened misappropriation; damages plus unjust enrichment; fees if willful | § 36–402, § 36–403, § 36–404 | 3 years from discovery (§ 36–406) |
Where the relief needed is an order stopping something tomorrow rather than damages next year, see emergency injunctions and TROs.
They changed the locks and cut off the accounting system. What now?
Exclusion from information is itself actionable, and the statute is unusually direct about it. D.C. Code § 29–804.10(a) gives a member of a member-managed LLC the right, on reasonable notice, to inspect and copy during regular business hours any company record material to the member’s rights and duties — and requires the company to furnish, without demand, information concerning its activities, affairs and financial condition that it knows to be material.
That matters tactically because it converts a stand-off into a documented refusal. A demand under § 29–804.10 that is ignored is evidence, and it is often the fastest route to the records that prove everything else.
Being locked out is frequently the visible symptom of a deadlock over control — see locked out of the business and ownership and partner disputes.
The money is moving. Can a court freeze it?
There are statutory remedies aimed precisely at assets that have been moved. § 28–3107(a) allows avoidance of the transfer to the extent necessary to satisfy the claim, an attachment or other provisional remedy against the transferred asset, an injunction against further disposition by the debtor or the transferee, and appointment of a receiver to take charge of the asset transferred.
A receiver is the strongest of those, because it puts a neutral officer of the court in control of the asset rather than leaving it with the person who moved it. Seth B. Waxman accepts receivership appointments and litigates on both sides of them, which means the remedy is assessed here for whether it will actually work rather than for how it sounds in a motion.
See a partner taking money out of the business and court-appointed receiverships.
An employee left with our trade secrets. How fast can we stop them?
You do not have to wait for the harm. § 36–402(a) provides that actual or threatened misappropriation may be enjoined. The injunction ends when the trade secret ceases to exist, but may be continued for a reasonable period to eliminate commercial advantage that otherwise would be derived from the misappropriation.
The money follows. Under § 36–403(a) damages may include both the actual loss and the unjust enrichment not already counted in that loss, or in the alternative a reasonable royalty. And § 36–404 allows reasonable attorney’s fees where there is willful and malicious misappropriation — or, cutting the other way, where a claim of misappropriation is made in bad faith. That second half is a real risk for an over-pleaded case.
The deadline has a wrinkle worth knowing: § 36–406 runs three years from when the misappropriation is discovered or, by the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have been discovered — and a continuing misappropriation constitutes a single claim, so ongoing use does not restart the clock.
See an employee took our trade secrets, trade secret misappropriation, and non-compete disputes.
What this group covers
- Locked Out of the Business — excluded from the premises, the accounts or the records
- A Partner Is Taking Money — diverted funds, undisclosed payments and self-dealing
- An Employee Took Our Trade Secrets — departures with client lists, designs, pricing or source code
Talk to the firm about your case. Call (301) 901-3109 or use the contact page. Every matter is reviewed by Seth B. Waxman before the firm takes it on.
Quick answers
Who
Owners, boards and companies facing a dispute that is actively causing loss right now.
What
Emergency relief — inspection, attachment, injunction, or a receiver over an asset.
Why
Because these three situations destroy evidence and value while a normal case timeline runs.
When
Immediately. Trade-secret claims run 3 years from discovery, and a continuing misappropriation is a single claim — waiting does not buy time.
Where
Superior Court of the District of Columbia, or federal court where jurisdiction exists.
How
Preserve the electronic evidence, make the statutory demand, then move for the order that actually stops the loss.
Frequently asked questions
Can I force my business partner to show me the company records?
In a member-managed D.C. LLC, yes. D.C. Code § 29–804.10(a) lets a member inspect and copy, on reasonable notice and during regular business hours, any record material to their rights and duties — and requires the company to furnish material information about its activities and financial condition without any demand at all.
Do I have to wait until an ex-employee actually uses our trade secret?
No. D.C. Code § 36–402(a) provides that actual or threatened misappropriation may be enjoined. The injunction can also be continued for a reasonable time after the secret ceases to exist, to eliminate the commercial advantage that would otherwise be derived from the misappropriation.
Can a court appoint a receiver over money a partner moved?
It can. D.C. Code § 28–3107(a)(3)(B) lists appointment of a receiver to take charge of the transferred asset among the remedies available to a creditor challenging a transfer, alongside avoidance, attachment and an injunction against further disposition.
How long do I have to bring a trade secret claim in D.C.?
Three years from when the misappropriation is discovered or, with reasonable diligence, should have been discovered, under D.C. Code § 36–406. That section also states that a continuing misappropriation is a single claim, so continued use does not start a new period.
Can we recover our legal fees?
Sometimes. D.C. Code § 36–404 permits the court to award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party where there is willful and malicious misappropriation, where a motion to terminate an injunction is made or resisted in bad faith — or where the misappropriation claim itself was made in bad faith, which is a risk to the claimant as much as to the defendant.
Who takes control of the company while the fight runs?
Sometimes a court appointee rather than either side. Under D.C. Code § 29–312.22(a) the Superior Court, in a proceeding brought to dissolve a corporation, may appoint receivers to wind up and liquidate or custodians to manage its activities and affairs, after a hearing on notice to all parties.
Why does the first week matter so much?
Because the strongest remedies are prospective. D.C. Code § 28–3107(a)(3)(A) allows an injunction against further disposition of a transferred asset, and § 36–402(a) allows threatened misappropriation to be enjoined — both of which are worth far more before the money moves or the information is used than afterwards.
How is an emergency application put together?
From sworn evidence of specific conduct matched to a specific statutory remedy. Where assets have already moved, D.C. Code § 28–3107(a)(2) allows an attachment or other provisional remedy against the transferred asset or other property of the transferee, following the procedure in §§ 16–501 through 16–584.
Where the firm is
Waxman Litigation
5425 Wisconsin Ave Ste 600
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
(301) 901-3109 · View the office on Google Maps
Serving Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland. Matters are heard in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Sources and legal authorities
- D.C. Code § 29–804.10 — Right of members and managers to information
- D.C. Code § 28–3104 — Transfers fraudulent as to present and future creditors
- D.C. Code § 28–3107 — Remedies of creditors
- D.C. Code § 36–402 — Trade secrets: injunctive relief
- D.C. Code § 36–403 — Trade secrets: damages
- D.C. Code § 36–404 — Trade secrets: attorney’s fees
- D.C. Code § 36–406 — Trade secrets: statute of limitations
- D.C. Code § 12–301 — Limitation of time for bringing actions
General information about District of Columbia and federal law, not legal advice. Which rule applies depends on the entity, the agreement and the facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Part of Business Litigation.
Talk to the firm about your case. Call (301) 901-3109 or use the contact page. Chevy Chase, Maryland — serving Washington, D.C. and the surrounding metro.