TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Court: Defendant Waited Too Long to Challenge Plaintiffs' Standing

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Oct 22, 2025

The Tennessee Supreme Court today held that a defendant waited too long to challenge the plaintiffs’ standing to bring a lawsuit. In Houghton v. Malibu Boats, LLC, the court found that Malibu Boats waited too long to challenge the standing of plaintiffs Brett and Ceree Houghton in their lawsuit against the company. The Houghtons, owners of a now-defunct boat dealership, sued Malibu for allegedly misrepresenting whether the business relationship would continue and won compensatory damages at trial for assets that were sold when the company went out of business. After the verdict, Malibu argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because the Houghtons’ company — not the couple themselves — was the proper party to sue. In a unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Jeff Bivins, the court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision that Malibu forfeited the challenge by raising it after the trial concluded, holding that shareholder standing limitations cannot be raised post-trial. Read more in a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

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