Partner disputes
What happens if my partner wants out?
Then the two of you need a price, a timeline and a way to keep the business running in between. We help you get all three in writing.
Partners fall out for ordinary reasons: one wants to grow and one wants to slow down, one works longer hours, one has a new life somewhere else. If you signed a buy-sell agreement, it already answers most of the hard questions, and we help you follow it. If you didn’t, we help you reach terms without wrecking the company you built together.
We represent one partner, never both. If your partner needs a lawyer too, we’ll suggest a few.
Where we help
Buy-sell agreements, before anyone wants out
Buyouts: valuing the share, setting payments
Deadlocks over money, hiring or direction
Mediation alongside a neutral mediator
Leaving a partnership on clean terms
How we work through a falling-out
Most disputes settle without a court. These steps are why.
- 01
Step 1: Read what you signed
The operating agreement, any buy-sell terms and the books. We tell you where you stand.
- 02
Step 2: Set what you want
A price, a date, who keeps the customers. We write it down before anyone talks.
- 03
Step 3: Talk, then mediate
We speak with your partner’s lawyer, and suggest a mediator if talking stalls.
- 04
Step 4: Sign and separate
A buyout agreement, the filings and the notices to the bank, landlord and customers.
Questions about partner disputes
We never wrote anything down. Where do we stand?
The state’s default rules fill in what you didn’t agree, and they rarely match what either partner expects. We explain what they say about your company in one meeting.
How is my share valued?
By what your agreement says, if it says anything. If not, usually by an outside valuation both partners accept. We help you pick a fair method before anyone argues numbers.
Is the dispute work a flat fee too?
The reading, planning and negotiating are. If the dispute turns into a lawsuit, we tell you first and price that part separately.
Still on speaking terms?
That’s the best time to call. A buy-sell agreement now costs far less than a buyout fight later.