Disputes between shareholders or members in an LLC are usually about money.  Resolving disputes between business investors, owners or partners quickly and cost-effectively requires legal skill as well as business savvy and experience.  The attorneys at the Watkins Firm have over 40+ years of experience serving the business, science and tech, real estate and medical / healthcare communities here in San Diego and across California.

We understand the nature of disputes between shareholders or members in an LLC, and how disruptive to a small business these matters can be.  There are many reasons why business disputes develop between business partners and close associates.  The primary issue in these disputes usually involves money, and often, a lot of it.  In other cases, one member of the LLC has outgrown the other, or one of the members is not carrying their fair share of the productive work of the business.  Your case may involve more serious issues such as the commingling of funds or theft by one of the owners or members and may result in a serious and in some cases all-or-nothing dispute for the business itself.

The experienced business attorneys at the Watkins Firm take a unique approach to resolving disputes between shareholders or members in an LLC or small business in San Diego.  We quickly and efficiently develop a thorough, well-documented chronology of events and a mastery of associated damages.  These provide the tools necessary to negotiate a solution which resolves the dispute while preserving important business and personal relationships which may be at stake.  The Watkins Firm is able to resolve the vast majority of our cases involving business owners or disputes between shareholders or members in an LLC through effective, leveraged negotiation.  This is the fastest and most cost-efficient strategy to resolve these challenging disputes.

Mediation is an excellent alternative to litigation in these matters.  In mediation the parties are guided through the process of seeking common ground while identifying solutions to resolve the dispute.  Negotiation and mediation are faster and much less expensive generally speaking than litigation before a judge or arbitrator.

It may be necessary to negotiate the exit of a member, or the addition of needed working capital or other skilled principles.  The Watkins Firm’s business and contract attorneys carefully craft the agreements and modifications to the corporate documents or LLC operating agreement that facilitate the resolution and move the parties forward in their business and personal lives.

Pro-Tip: “we want to get the facts down and we want the evidence they have in chronological order, because that’s the best way to communicate to the other party or to a third party, to anyone is in chronological order. That’s how we think. Then I want to help our clients analyze the damages. Whether you are feeling like they owe you something, they’re not complying with the agreement or vice versa. So I want to want something more from you than just to analyze the damages, we’re going to analyze what it’s going to cost to fight. And also look at the future business. Whether we can salvage this relationship, all of those important things should come into play, give good advice. Sometimes we’ll even advise our clients how we would think about it and then let them go talk to their partner or whoever they’re dealing with on their own armed with our knowledge and our negotiation technique.

Knowing the facts, the damages, the law of the damages is key, because that gives us the ability to predict what would happen if you went to trial tomorrow and you won, what would you win? That’s it, that’s the number. Because in civil court, we’re only looking about dollar amounts now, getting to a resolution and understanding human nature. Preparation for my clients has to do with damages, the law and damages and getting all the facts down so that we have a strong, well-informed strategy.

So you first place people on notice. Then you fight over the discovery, fight over the evidence. And that at some point in time, 90% of the time you are going to be in something called a mediation or settlement conference, which is different than just negotiating with other parties and your lawyer. This is where you’re going to sit in front of a non-biased really intelligent settlement conference judge or mediator. And they are going to twist both your arms and hopefully work the parties over a bit to wake up to the facts. And he’s going to tell you good stories of the hundreds of trials he’s presided over and how they came out. And sometimes that wakes you up when you can have some judge, you know, who doesn’t favor one party or the other, say, ‘look, I tried 25 cases like yours. And the biggest fear was this, this and this or the other flip side of that.’ They say, ‘you know, you’re going to win, but what is it going to cost you to get there? And how much is it going to hurt your business? What are you going to do to win this trial? You’re going to damage your entire company to win this case, or you going to do something reasonable, move on and carry on with your life.’ So effective preparation, documentation and a mastery of the damages, backed up with good old stories are very effective in solving cases.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

If you are facing disputes between shareholders or members in an LLC in San Diego or anywhere in California 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.