A business partnership involves two or more individuals going into business together with the goal of making a profit. These partnerships are most often formed between friends or family, and are based on their good relationship and the trust they have in each other. Unfortunately, people aren’t perfect, and a dispute might arise between the partners from time to time, despite their previous positive relationship.
If you and your business partner are having a serious dispute it is in everyone’s best interests to urgently seek legal advice from a business partnership dispute lawyer as to how the dispute can be resolved in order to prevent any further disruption to your business as well as to your life.
These days alternative dispute resolution, or ADR, has become a very attractive option thanks to its non-adversarial techniques that provide the parties in disagreement with the opportunity to discuss and resolve the issues underlying the dispute in a constructive manner. ADR is actually less expensive, gets matters resolved faster, and provides a much higher chance that the relationship between the partners will be preserved, and that the dispute is therefore less disruptive to the continuing business.
Disputes that happen in business partnerships are generally resolved through the use of the following methods:
- Negotiation – During negotiation the parties, with or without their lawyers in attendance, meet in an attempt to resolve the dispute on their own, bypassing any need for an impartial third party’s assistance or intervention.
- Mediation – The goal of mediation is very similar to negotiation, what differentiates it is the presence of an independent third party called a mediator who will attempt to guide the parties towards an equanimous and fair resolution of the dispute. The mediator has no power to impose any decisions on the disputing parties, they are only there to facilitate the negotiations.
- Arbitration – When using arbitration the dispute is given to either a single arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators to be decided. Arbitration proceedings are much more formal than negotiation and mediation are, and the arbitrator’s decision is fully binding on both of the disputing parties.
- Legal Action – There is a point when neither side can come to a feasible or reasonable agreement on their own, and the best course becomes taking legal action and having the dispute go before the courts. This is a last measure that is only recommended when all other courses have been exhausted.
Hopefully, your business partnership will never be subject to a major dispute, but if it is there is help available!