Opinion ID: 2593436
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Whether a limited liability company has the capacity to sue after cancellation

Text: ¶ 41 We turn briefly to the question of the capacity of a canceled limited liability company to sue. As noted, the Court of Appeals held that RCW 25.15.303 permitted suits against a canceled limited liability company but did not permit suits by a canceled company. Although the court's reasoning was erroneous, its ultimate conclusion, that a canceled limited liability company lacks capacity to sue, is correct. RCW 25.15.295(2) provides as to any dissolved limited liability company that the persons winding up the company's affairs can prosecute or defend suits only until the certificate of cancellation is filed. And, as mentioned before, RCW 25.15.070(2)(c) provides that the separate legal existence of a limited liability company ends upon cancellation of the certificate of formation. Thus, a limited liability company's ability to sue ends upon cancellation. ¶ 42 As to administratively dissolved companies, the legislature's decision that an administratively dissolved limited liability has two years in which to wind up, including prosecuting an action, is not as harsh at it might seem at first. At all times the power to continue to prosecute claims lies with the limited liability company, which can seek reinstatement.