Alleghany Corp. v. Kirby

KAUFMAN, Circuit Judge:

As Judge Friendly recently wrote, “The affairs of Alleghany Corporation, from its founding by the Van Sweringen brothers in 1929, have given rise to a flood of litigation that must be unparalleled in American corporation law.” Willheim v. Murchison, 342 F.2d 33 (2 Cir. Feb. 10, 1965). The aspect of that litigious history presently before us— which may occupy no more than a footnote when the definitive chronicle is written — involves an appeal by Margaret L. Holt and Kathleen L. McMahon (“the applicants”), as owners of 650 and 550 shares, respectively, of Alleghany…