What is the best way to resolve your partnership dispute with a member in your LLC?  The Watkins Firm has nearly four decades of experience and proven success in these matters, and there are many factors to consider.

Key Takeaways about How to Resolve Your Partnership Dispute with a Member in Your LLC:

• Begin with the nature of the relationship between you and the other party.  How important is it to not only resolve the matter at hand, but to preserve and/or repair the relationship as well?
• What is at the root of the dispute at hand?  Does it involve theft or commingling of funds?  Is it about work responsibilities and the ability to deliver one’s responsibilities?
• What are the best options to resolve your partnership dispute with a member in your LLC?  Look for a law firm with extensive experience, especially in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) strategies.

What is the Nature of Your Business (Or Personal) Relationship?

The first question is what are the underlying relationships between the business partners or members of an LLC?  A dispute or lawsuit with a business partner or member in an LLC often involves family members or close friends, and the work dispute has jaded a once positive and close relationship.  How your attorney handles these delicate situations will go a long way to deciding the outcome and protecting your interests along the way.

What is the Nature of the Dispute or Lawsuit?

What is the nature of the dispute or lawsuit at hand?  In order to resolve your partnership dispute with a member in your LLC in San Diego or anywhere in California, your Watkins Firm attorney will work to develop a thorough, well-documented chronology of events including facts of the matter at hand, as well as the potential for “damages.” Financial damages are the primary remedy in any business dispute in California.

In many cases, it is a matter of “who was supposed to do what” or “how the money is supposed to be divided.”  Our experienced dispute attorneys get to the core issues and work to quickly and efficiently document chronology, facts, evidence, and potential damages in order to gain effective leverage for negotiation.  We work to establish a productive working atmosphere that is conducive to leveraged negotiations and ultimately a settlement which reflects the goals and objectives of our client.  It may comfort you to know that the Watkins Firm is able to resolve the vast majority of our business partnership dispute cases through effective, leveraged negotiation.  This is the fastest and least expensive strategy to accomplish our client’s goals and objectives.

We are fully prepared to represent you in any legal venue, including settlement conferences, business mediation, arbitration, and at trial.

What Happens After the Dispute is Resolved?

In order to fully resolve your partnership dispute with a member in your LLC we must give consideration to what happens after the matter is settled as well.  Is it possible for the parties to continue in the business, or is it necessary to negotiate a MIPA buy-out or sale of a business interest or the business itself?  Is there any concern about theft, fraud or commingling of funds or assets?  Who has been responsible for keeping the books, and how accurate and up-to-date are the records?  A comprehensive resolution strategy often involves important changes going forward, including modification of the LLC operating agreement to prevent future disputes from arising.

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 a third party, to anyone is in chronological order. That’s how we think. Then I want to help our clients analyze the damages. Do you feel like they owe you something, they’re not complying with the agreement or vice versa? We not only want to help analyze the damages, we also need to analyze what it’s going to cost to fight. And also look at the potential for future business, whether we can salvage this relationship, all of those important things should come into play. 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.

They are married to the dispute. So they’re married to every little fact. And if they have any kind of good business skills, we can coach them give them the law in layman’s terms so that when they negotiate, they’re negotiating with the knowledge of what we would say and even more facts. So they can actually be better than us. 

Knowing the facts, the damages, the law of the damages is key, because that gives you and your lawyer 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 seeking dollar amounts, the path for getting to resolution, and understanding human nature. We cannot just go in there and say, ‘here’s the right number. Here’s what I’ll settle for. I’m done talking that doesn’t work.’ It should. Okay. We believe we’re, we’re all intelligent people. And if we all are intelligent people, we should be able to look at the facts. If we agree on the facts, apply law and come up with the exact same number. Like it’s an accounting problem, but it doesn’t work that way. People are not wired that way.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

We Work to Efficiently Resolve Your Partnership Dispute with a Member in Your LLC in California

We work to efficiently resolve your partnership dispute with a member in your LLC in San Diego or anywhere in California, while accomplishing your goals and objectives for the matter.  Our clients value our practical approach, and our desire to help resolve the dispute quickly and in a cost-effective manner.  They also respect our reputation and proven track record of success in these disputes, and appreciate that we are able to represent them at any stage of a business dispute, from negotiation through mediation, in arbitration, or at trial.

If you wish to successfully resolve your dispute or lawsuit with a business partner or another member in your LLC or corporation 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. We will work with you to preserve the benefit of all of your time, energy, money and hard work and to accomplish your goals and objectives now and in the future.