Amy Helm countersues over control of Levon Helm Studios

Amy Helm has countersued the company that runs her late father's Woodstock venue, arguing its current boss seized control with invalid corporate paperwork.

The 34-page complaint was filed on 16 October in state Supreme Court, the trial-level court in New York. It was reported on 20 October by Pitchfork. A countersuit is a legal claim filed by a person in response to being sued.

Helm, the daughter of Band drummer Levon Helm, owns 40% of Levon Helm Studios. Her mother Sandra Helm, Levon Helm's widow, owns another 40%. Manager Brian Parillo and Barbara O'Brien each own 10%.

The countersuit says Parillo claimed written voting assignments from Sandra Helm and O'Brien and used them to assert 60% voting control. That share is six times his 10% holding. It alleges he then appointed himself director, president, secretary and treasurer without a shareholder meeting and without Amy Helm's written consent.

Amy Helm had served as president of the organisation behind the venue. The filing says Sandra Helm, Parillo and O'Brien voted to remove her and claimed she had mismanaged the business. Amy Helm rejects that account and says the votes used against her were not valid.

Much of the dispute turns on Sandra Helm's voting rights. The countersuit alleges Parillo improperly obtained voting power from her. In July, Ulster County Surrogate's Court appointed a guardian ad litem for Sandra Helm in a separate estate proceeding. A guardian ad litem is a person appointed to protect someone's interests in a legal case, and the order described her as a person under disability.

Voting control decides who can appoint officers and set direction. Share ownership and voting power are usually linked, but they can be separated by written agreement. Helm argues those agreements were not properly made here.

The state filing answers an earlier federal lawsuit. In that case, Levon Helm Studios accused Amy Helm of self-dealing and trademark infringement, the unauthorised use of protected names or logos, and sought $2 million in damages. No finding has been made on those claims.

In August, Helm said she had been barred from the Woodstock property and accused Parillo of extortion, as reported by the Daily Freeman. Those were public statements, not court findings. The October complaint was filed in Ulster County, according to the Times Union.

For people who know the room in Woodstock, this means the fight now runs on two tracks. A federal court will consider the studio's claims against Helm. A state court will consider Helm's claims about who has the right to run the studio.