Opinion ID: 2544308
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Shareholder Oppression

Text: The investors asserted a claim of shareholder oppression against Hinds, Decatur, Kirkland, and Gulf Stream. In their brief on appeal, the investors cite only § 10-12-21(h), Ala.Code 1975, and a legal treatise to support their contention that the trial court erred in dismissing that claim. Section 10-12-21(h) states only that [a] member shall discharge the duties to a member-managed company and its other members under this chapter or under the operating agreement and exercise any rights consistently with the obligation of good faith and fair dealing. The investors have not cited any Alabama authority showing that § 10-12-21(h) applies to Hinds, Decatur, Kirkland, or Gulf Stream, or that § 10-12-21(h) supports a claim of shareholder oppression. Nor have the investors cited any authority showing that the allegations of their third amended complaint adequately state such a claim. This Court has stated: Rule 28(a)(10), Ala. R.App. P., requires that arguments in an appellant's brief contain `citations to the cases, statutes, other authorities, and parts of the record relied on.' Further, `it is well settled that a failure to comply with the requirements of Rule 28(a)(10) requiring citation of authority in support of the arguments presented provides this Court with a basis for disregarding those arguments.' State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Motley, 909 So.2d 806, 822 (Ala.2005) (citing Ex parte Showers, 812 So.2d 277, 281 (Ala.2001)). This is so, because ` it is not the function of this Court to do a party's legal research or to make and address legal arguments for a party based on undelineated general propositions not supported by sufficient authority or argument. ' Butler v. Town of Argo, 871 So.2d 1, 20 (Ala. 2003) (quoting Dykes v. Lane Trucking, Inc., 652 So.2d 248, 251 (Ala.1994)). Jimmy Day Plumbing & Heating, Inc. v. Smith, 964 So.2d 1, 9 (Ala.2007) (emphasis added). Because the investors have not complied with the requirements of Rule 28(a)(10), Ala. R. Civ. P., we will not consider their arguments as to this claim, and we affirm the trial court's dismissal of this claim.