Partnership disputes can threaten everything you have built: your business, livelihood, and professional relationships. When conflicts arise between business partners, you need experienced counsel from a team that can protect your interests while working toward resolution.
How Partnership Disputes Arise
- Financial disagreements over profit distribution, capital contributions, expense reimbursements, or compensation levels
- Management and control issues — disagreements about business direction, strategic decisions, or hiring
- Breaches of fiduciary duty, including self-dealing, misappropriation of opportunities, or unauthorized use of assets
- Unequal contribution when one partner feels they are contributing more time, effort, or resources
- Stalemates where partners cannot agree on critical decisions, paralyzing the business
- Exit and buyout issues from business valuation disagreements or unclear buyout terms
Potential Remedies & Solutions
- Negotiated settlement — Direct negotiation between partners or their attorneys reaching agreements on buyouts, profit distribution, or business restructuring
- Mediation — A neutral mediator facilitates discussions to help partners find common ground
- Arbitration — When the partnership agreement includes an arbitration clause, binding arbitration outside court litigation
- Buyout agreements — One partner purchases the other's interest, allowing the business to continue
- Business dissolution — Formal dissolution and winding up when the partnership relationship is beyond repair
- Litigation — Enforcing partnership agreements, recovering damages, or compelling dissolution when other remedies fail
How We Protect Your Partnership Interests
Managing partner Chandler R. Gietzen has argued cases before California's Superior Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeal. The firm uses innovative systems to review complex transactions, trace funds, identify discrepancies in partner accounting, organize years of documents, and present data compellingly before judges, mediators, and opposing counsel.
Preventive Measures
The firm drafts comprehensive partnership agreements with clear profit distribution formulas, management authority definitions, conflict resolution mechanisms, and buyout provisions. They can also review existing agreements to identify vulnerabilities and recommend amendments.