Are you facing internal challenges in your business, LLC, partnership or medical practice and need the help of an experienced California partnership dispute attorney?  This has unfortunately become quite common, especially in the healthcare industry.  Continuous changes in the delivery of healthcare and related medical products and services have led to additional challenges for those doctors and medical professionals who have formed partnerships or have merged into larger groups.

These changes are often undertaken without the necessary guidance and counsel from experienced medical and healthcare attorneys.  The changes in working relationships, money and business operations naturally lead to a number of significant disputes.  What should you do if you are involved in a dispute with fellow partners or shareholders in an LLC, small to mid-sized corporation, or medical / healthcare related practice or business?

The Underlying Partnership or Corporate Documents Are Often the Source of Disputes

The source of many of these disputes lies in the partnership agreement, LLC operating agreement, or shareholders’ agreement within the company itself.  This is why it is important to maintain corporate governance and work with the experienced San Diego business and litigation attorneys at the Watkins Firm.  We have 40+ years of experience serving the business, science and tech, real estate and medical / healthcare communities here in San Diego and across California.

Strong corporate documents can prevent a dispute before it ever arises.  These crucial documents should be reviewed and updated regularly, particularly when a new investor is brought into the company, when practices merge or a new physician or medical professional is added to the practice.

There are Many Types of Disputes Between the Owners of a California Business

How can a California partnership dispute attorney from the Watkins Firm help in your unique situation? While there are too many issues to list here, some of the more common disputes which arise in a business center on the addition of new equity partners, operational disagreements, removing a partner or fellow shareholder or when a stakeholder retires or leaves the company or practice.  What happens when there is a dispute about the distribution of profits or equity?  How do you remove a professional who is not fulfilling production or ethical standards?  What happens when an option to become a full equity partner is blocked by the existing power structure?  What happens if an equity holder is unable to fulfill a capital call or wishes to be bought out?

Pro-Tip: “We handle this from both sides, from the drafting of the agreements to managing and resolving actual disputes. And one thing we always talk about with our clients is power and leverage. So if you don’t have a strong agreement and it’s just you and somebody else with a bland agreement, then the party with more power, more resources, the ability to fight can turn around and argue that the agreements you may have give them more rights and power. For example, you are just a shareholder investor and you don’t have that much money and you don’t have a strong agreement, the person in charge can say, ‘well, I’m an officer now. And I award myself a million dollar a year salary, because I’m that great?’ And what do you do? You didn’t cover that early and you need a good lawyer to cover that now because it’s going to be a fight.

If you suspect a business partner of theft, you should come and talk to us, talk to one of our experienced business dispute attorneys right away. For example, we had a case a long time ago, nine or 10 doctors were working together in our medical practice. And our two or three doctors were worried about something. They came to us and over that weekend, the managing members of the medical corporation took the entire practice, moved. It changed its phone number, location, changed it, mailing address and took all the money and assets and bank accounts. Didn’t even tell the other partners where they were going. They showed up for work on Monday and there was no more work. They had disappeared overnight down the street to a different facility with instructions to keep them out. Unbelievable!

So knowing something might be going on is the time to come to your lawyer so that we can do things to A) discover, whether there’s really something going on, and B) if there are remedies in the law or the agreements themselves that can stop that.

We have experts that we use that can look at financial records better than a regular CPA. They’re called forensic CPAs. They can do a spot audit. If we find something’s off five bucks, it’s the same as if it’s off 5 million. Numbers should match to the penny. If they don’t, it’s not hard to go find a reason why not; Usually it’s just a human error, you know, an accounting error. But if it’s not, sometimes we find it leads to very large theft.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

You Need an Experienced, Proven California Partnership Dispute Attorney

If you are involved in a dispute associated with an LLC, small business, medical practice or healthcare-related entity you need an experienced, proven California partnership dispute attorney from the Watkins Firm.  We have extensive experience across more than four decades in these issues and provide valuable insight and proven strategies to resolve a dispute or prevent an internal dispute between investors, partners, or fellow shareholders from ever arising.  This experience allows us to manage not only the legal, business, employment and compliance issues your partnership, practice or corporate entity faces but help you to adapt to the natural changes which arise and any disputes which might occur.

We invite you to review our podcast Episode 11 – Resolving Business Disputes as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.