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If you need help resolving a partnership dispute, we can help. Glanvilles’ commercial team has a proven track record in helping directors, entrepreneurs, shareholders, and companies with resolving partnership disputes.
Like all relationships, a business partnership can succumb to pressure and become strained over time. Often caused by financial difficulties, lack of direction, differing expectations or unequal effort and interest, disagreements can easily flare into acrimonious conflict, resulting in bitter disputes and business jeopardy.
Whether you are an exiting or remaining partner, we can help to prevent, manage and resolve partnership disputes as quickly, efficiently and amicably as possible.
Our expert commercial team have wide experience in negotiation and mediation, advising and representing all types of businesses involved in partnership disputes in Chichester, Fareham, Havant and across the wider Hampshire and West Sussex areas.
Our partnership dispute advice and representation covers:
We work with all types of partnerships across a variety of professions and sectors, giving bespoke advice and representation for achieving a positive outcome.
Our team can also provide general advice on partnership formation, conversion, disputes or dissolution, drafting all the necessary documentation and agreements to protect your business partnership and secure your individual partner rights.
Give us a call at your local branch in Chichester, Fareham, Havant or Petworth or fill in our simple online enquiry form for a quick response.
We know that a partnership dispute can be extremely damaging to your business and professional reputation alike. It can pose significant long-term risk to your business survival, undermine day-to-day operations, or harm the careers of those involved.
Where big investments have been made in terms of the time, emotion, and money, tensions can easily escalate into highly sensitive and deeply personal conflicts.
For these reasons, our expert partnership dispute solicitors will always aim to help you resolve your dispute quickly and amicably, before resorting to lengthy and costly litigation.
Glanvilles’ business dispute solicitors have extensive experience and an excellent record of success in the use of mediation as an effective tool in resolving partnership disputes.
Our partnership dispute solicitors understand the legal, commercial, and regulatory framework that partnerships operate in. This enables us to provide clear, straightforward, and practical advice to strengthen your position with expert mediation, negotiation or litigation.
We will help you to take commercially astute, decisive action that protects your business reputation and secures your long-term commercial success.
Our expert team includes Partner Lance Terry, an experienced lawyer with a strong background dealing with corporate matters, including partnerships. He also provides a range of associated commercial law advice to help businesses make their commercial ventures a success, including contracts and intellectual property advice.
Our Corporate team also includes Scott Richardson, a skilled lawyer who specialises in all corporate and commercial law matters. If you are an entrepreneur, start-up, or early-stage business in or around Chichester, Scott is available to provide a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your legal requirements. Get in touch with Scott at [email protected].
When you use our partnership dispute resolution service, we promise:
A business partnership is a type of business entity whereby two or more parties join forces, agreeing to run and manage a profitable business enterprise together. There can be different types of business partnerships such as:
General Partnerships – A business arrangement between two or more parties who carry out a business to share profits and liabilities, but in this case it is not a separate legal entity as each partner’s share of the profits will be taxed as personal income.
Limited Partnerships – A business partnership formed as a legal entity under the Limited Partnership Act of 1907 where there are one of more “general partners” along with one of more “limited partners”.
Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) – Similar to a standard partnership but with reduced personal risk and responsibility for business debts for individual partners. The LLP is a separate legal entity that is responsible for liabilities rather than the partners. A Members’ Agreement will govern the relationship between members. Where there is no agreement in place, the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2000 will apply to the LLP.
When you are operating a business with someone else or other people to make a profit, you are already in a partnership.
To avoid potential partnership disputes and secure the best chance of success for you and your business, it is always a good idea to draw up a partnership agreement which will set out clear terms and expectations right from the outset.
A partnership agreement is a formal contract between two or more parties to form a business partnership.
Other terms to describe a partnership agreement are General Partnership Agreement, Business Partnership Agreement and Partnership Contract.
A partnership agreement will set out important issues such as the rights and responsibilities of each partner and how profits and losses should be shared.
Like all relationships, business partnerships can also break down. Differing opinions on how the business should be run can quickly spiral into acrimonious disputes that can bring about a bitter end to a partnership.
But before any disagreement gets out of hand, we recommend that you begin by reviewing matters to determine whether things can be resolved amicably, without the need for expensive and time-consuming litigation.
In the first instance, it is always a good idea to consult your partnership agreement which may set out the policies and procedures to follow in order to reach a quick and amicable resolution to disagreements.
However, should you feel that the only course of action is to bring the partnership to an end, keeping things as civil and cordial as possible will be helpful if you are to avoid litigation.
Your partnership agreement will typically set out the process that needs to be followed in order to dissolve your partnership. This may include mediation as a means of resolving a dispute which may be helpful in reaching better terms or a reconciliation, if this is at all possible under the circumstances.
Business partnerships end for all sorts of reasons. Business partners, like the businesses they run, rarely stay the same and will inevitably change over time. Exposure to new ideas, challenges and opportunities can bring about differing opinions where tensions, divergence and conflict arise.
If you are a business partner in the position of wanting to leave a business partnership, but your business partner has not offered to buy your shares or interests, you may be wondering if you can force your business partner to buy you out.
With a partnership agreement in place, it will depend entirely on the terms of the agreement if, how and when this will be possible.
Without a partnership agreement, your partnership will be governed by the Partnership Act 1890 where, theoretically, you will be unable to make your business partner buy you out.
Instead, you could serve a notice of dissolution as an alternative method of bringing an end to the partnership.
In the absence of a partnership agreement, the Partnership Act 1890 will set out the process for dissolving the business and how any assets and liabilities will be dealt with.
Where this is the case, we will be able to help you interpret and apply the Partnership Act to your particular situation and circumstances.
The legal relationship between partners in a business partnership will be set out and governed by the partnership agreement, where one exists.
Where there is a partnership agreement:
When an application for an order of dissolution is made to the courts, company records and evidence may be useful in support of an application. This might include records of partnership meetings, letters outlining concerns or even witness evidence.
Where there is no partnership agreement in place, the Partnership Act 1890 will apply. In this case:
If you end up in the default position of your business being governed by the provisions of the Partnership Act, it could (for the reasons outlined above) have a potentially devastating and detrimental impact on your business.
Unfortunately, many businesses, such as family owned ones, still operate without a partnership agreement in place which can be a costly mistake in the event that difficulties and disagreements arise.
Where a partnership is dissolved, it is the responsibility of partners to wind up the affairs of the business, settling debts and liabilities and distribute assets between partners. Doing this incorrectly could give rise to claims and disputes between partners, especially where joint assets are still in use.
We can provide specialist partnership dispute advice, mediation and representation for businesses, company directors, shareholders, and entrepreneurs.
Give us a call at your local branch in Chichester, Fareham, Havant or Petworth or fill in our simple online enquiry form for a quick response.
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