No matter how cordial your business collaboration is, it’s likely that you will at some point need an attorney on your side. You should think about contacting an experienced partnership disagreement lawyer if you are beginning a partnership, have concerns about partnership issues, or have become embroiled in a dispute with your co-owners.
The provisions of your partnership agreement can often be used to settle conflicts in a partnership. It will be considerably more challenging to resolve disagreements if you do not have a partnership agreement or if the terms of your contract are too vague. In any event, a Texas partnership dispute lawyer at Berg Plummer Johnson & Raval can counsel you about the best course of action for your partnership dispute regardless of how it arises.
What Does a Partnership Dispute Lawyer Do?
If are embroiled in a partnership dispute – or you anticipate one, you should contact an experienced business attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney can help you to identify whether there are any existing entity documents that provide the framework for resolving the dispute. An experienced attorney can also assist you with the various methods of dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration.
You should consult a Texas partnership disagreement attorney to go over your alternatives if you and your business partner are in conflict. A lawyer with business litigation experience managing partnership conflicts in Texas can carefully assess your situation and provide you with all of your alternatives so you can make an educated choice. When conflicts over contracts arise, these attorneys represent the parties involved in negotiations outside of court and during litigation and on appeal.
What is Partnership Dispute?
People disagree with each other; however, things become a little tricky when disputes arise involving commercial ties. Whatever the cause, the consequences of a partnership dispute could be terrible for your business. A quarrel between important partners can frequently get out of control when those involved start making rash and/or self-interested decisions.
As partners own a business together and collaborate on it, partnership disputes can happen for a variety of reasons. However, a breach of fiduciary duty, resource allocation, a failure to clearly define authority, and fraud are some of the most frequent reasons for partnership disputes.
Common Causes of a Partnership Dispute
Business partners owe specific fiduciary obligations to one another. Unfortunately, these commitments are frequently broken, which can lead to a dispute that might endanger a company’s reputation profitability.
While some partnership disputes are caused by personal conflicts, the most common cause is the misappropriation of assets or business opportunities. For example, when one partner believes that business expenditures should be used in a different way than another, this will result in a dispute. Additionally, fraudulent activity is another main genesis of partnership dispute. Another main point of contention in a partnership that will lead to disputes is surrounding its contracts with other parties. When there is a breach of a contract, this can cause a serious partnership dispute.
How To Resolve a Partnership Dispute
When one partner violates their contractual commitments and responsibilities, a partnership conflict may result. Serious disputes may result from these problems. Any organization can go through significant turbulence during times of change, but these situations can be managed if a solid partnership agreement is in place and all parties make an effort to cooperate to find a mutually agreeable resolution. Sometimes, partners cannot work it out and must seek alternative dispute resolution such as arbitration or mediation and many eventually reach full-scale commercial litigation.
Mediation
In a mediation, the parties meet with an impartial third party who assists them in resolving their differences. Prior to starting the process, the two parties will probably choose the mediator together.
In an effort to assist the parties in reaching a voluntary, non-binding agreement, mediators will work with them individually and together. The most crucial thing to remember about mediation is that neither side is required to adhere to its conclusions; rather, its purpose is to assist the parties in reaching a mutually agreeable solution.
In mediation, the mediator’s job is to help the parties come to an amicable resolution on their own. Rather than imposing a solution, a skilled mediator works with the opposing parties to identify the interests that underpin their points of view.
Arbitration
Arbitration is similar to mediation in that a neutral third party – or a panel of them – facilitates the procedures, but unlike mediation, it is binding.
In arbitration, an arbitrator who is a neutral third party decides the dispute. Before rendering a decision, the arbitrator considers the arguments made by both parties and the relevant facts.
The involvement of attorneys and the acceptable standards of proof are just two of the many aspects of the arbitration process that are negotiable between the parties. The cost of arbitration and mediation is far lower than that of litigation.
Litigation
When alternative dispute resolution fails to resolve part or all of your partnership dispute issues, a lawyer with experience in business litigation will handle your claims or defenses in court.
Business litigation typically arises from a partnership or business dispute. When all other means of dispute resolution have been exhausted, litigation is where parties turn. Litigation can be expensive and time-consuming, so it is often a last resort when a settlement cannot be reached.
Contact the Texas Partnership Dispute Lawyers at Berg Plummer Johnson & Raval
Our attorneys at Berg Plummer Johnson & Raval, LLP have years of combined experience guiding businesses in the Houston region (as well as businesses throughout Texas) through the challenging difficulties of partnership disputes. Call (713) 526-0200 or fill out our online form to find out your options.