Business Dispute Lawyers

Business Partnership Disputes

What Is Dissolution Of Business?

Partnership dissolutions can be complex, requiring the advice and guidance of experienced legal counsel.

Dissolution refers to the process of shutting down a business and ending the official and contractual agreement between the parties. While many people think closing down a business is simply shutting the doors, there are actually numerous steps that must be followed. In order to dissolve a business, the owners must first agree to close. This can often be tricky if one or more partners want to dissolve while others want to remain open. After deciding to close, business owners must file paperwork with  provincial and federal agencies and cancel any permits and licenses. Next, owners must pay all taxes and debts and notify creditors, employees, and customers of the dissolution. The business and remaining assets can then be sold, with the profit distributed to the owners.

Successful Business Divorce

Partnership disputes because of misunderstandings, personality differences, and lack of business knowledge or downright digging in for a big fight to prove you are right and they are wrong often leads to similarities of a “personal divorce between two people……although in a business it involves 2, 4, 6 or more business partners. It usually gets nasty and turns into hate or vengeance against partners who may have been good friends before business divorce rears its ugly head” and these partnership disputes can be resolved in many cases by a Lawyer.. Also, so many more people from family, friends and  staff can be hurt from the situation. Then there is the bottom line results as business drops and bad press or word of mouth spreads, which just turns things upside down and makes everyone in the business with you (i.e.) family, staff and friends bear the bitterness and downfall of a company.

Dispute Lawyers

If partners cannot resolve their differences and the dispute is heading toward the courtroom, you should contact a Business Dispute Lawyer who can advise you or get a specialist dispute attorney. Getting legal help quickly could be critical to being successful. An impartial responsible Lawyer is what you need at this point to protect your best interests.

Ownership, control, and survival of a company are continually in jeopardy and threatened through disagreements and misunderstanding between partners which can ultimately cause mistrust, dislike and hate between partners. Employees then feel the fallout caused by insecurity and tension between management and personnel. These feelings invariably cause lackluster bottom line results and profits decline accordingly. Panic rears its ugly head and people tend to fall apart and unreasonable feelings get into the mix.

It is imperative that if you are considering a business partnership with  friends, family or outsiders…..you need to procure a good lawyer to guide you through the pitfalls of business related partnerships. As in a personal divorce the basis of the partnership becomes fractured If two or more partners are working together, misunderstandings are a big problem as well as personality differences. The more Partners involved the more problems seem to come into play. Establish at the outset who is in charge and get a Lawyer involved to talk sense and guide those who fall apart at the seams.

Partnership Dispute Procedures

A statement of control drawn up by the Lawyer and discussed… then signed by all partners. This contract should specify what will happen if a lesser partner doesn’t agree with the controlling partner or partners, whereby, the lesser partner or partners may have the right to leave, or have his or her equity bought out at a predetermined formula price. Like in a divorce so many things come into play and family members get involved with their own agendas or opinions causing friction and chaos.

Monthly meetings should be held on a regular basis, to discuss problems going forward and those outstanding. A Lawyer should be on the Board for any problems that arise as well as giving advice to Management and control the Partnership so that no irregularities or interferences arise in the running of the business and all pertinent paperwork is in place according to law.

Dissolution of Partnership Reference Material

The Corporations Act and the Partnership Act are great reference tools for business based in BC, Canada. A dissolution can be expensive, so it is advisable to study these documents. You will also want to ensure the partners are all on board with a full disclosure of the consequences and wish to go ahead with this action.