Shareholder / Partnership Disputes

Shareholder and partnership disputes can often the cause of the demise of a business.

The origins of such disputes are many and varied, but the result is often the same. Opposing factions become entrenched in their positions and the needs of the business take second place to personal objectives. Finally communication breaks down and none of the parties perform to the best of their capabilities for fear of benefiting the others.

Unless this impasse can be broken, the business is likely to deteriorate and even fail.

Going to Law in these circumstances can be prohibitively expensive, particularly in the absence of a formal shareholder's agreement and at the end of the day, the final solution open to the courts is to wind up the business, which is unlikely to be in the interest of any of the conflicting parties.

Alternatively an independent party may be brought in to ascertain whether there is a route that can be pursued, which will, if not satisfy all parties, produce a compromise they can all live with.

We have been involved in a number of cases, where seemingly impossible situations have been worked through with each side winning a little and losing a little and finally an agreement has been reached, enabling all parties to put the dispute behind them and get on with the rest of their lives.