Partners who disagree
When the partnership stops working
You started it together, on trust and a handshake. Now you disagree about money, hours or where the business goes next, and nobody wrote down what happens then.
I represent one owner in a dispute with the others, or help all of you write the agreement you skipped at the start. Most of these end at a table, not in a courtroom: a buyout, a split, or new rules everyone signs.
How we untangle it
Every partnership is different, but the work usually runs in this order.
- 01
Step 1: Find what you actually agreed
Old emails, the bank signature card, the tax returns, the operating agreement if there is one. These say more than anyone’s memory.
- 02
Step 2: Put a number on your share
With an appraiser or your accountant, we work out what your stake is worth before anyone names a price.
- 03
Step 3: Negotiate the exit or the new rules
A buyout over time, a split of customers and equipment, or a fresh agreement with a tie-breaker.
- 04
Step 4: Write it so it holds
Payment terms, security if the buyout is paid over years, non-competes where the law allows them, and releases both ways.
- 05
Step 5: Go to court only if we must
If the other side won’t engage, I’ll tell you what a lawsuit would take, and work with a litigator if it comes to that.
How some partner splits ended
Invented sample matters, to show the kinds of endings that are possible.
Bought out
Two-owner landscaping company
One partner bought the other’s half over three years, from company profits.
Split in two
Bakery with a café and a wholesale side
Each partner kept one half of the business and its equipment.
Agreement signed
Three-partner design studio
No one left; they wrote the operating agreement they never had.
Sample matters for illustration. Past results don’t predict the outcome of your matter; every dispute turns on its own facts.
Questions owners ask about splitting up
We never signed an operating agreement. What rules apply?
Your state’s default business laws fill the gap, and they rarely say what either of you assumed. That’s the first thing we look at.
Can my partner lock me out of the bank account?
Sometimes, depending on how the account and the company were set up. Call before you move money yourself; a hasty transfer can hurt your position.
Is mediation worth trying?
Often. A neutral mediator can get two partners to a number faster than letters back and forth. I can prepare you for it and review whatever you agree.
Ready to sort it out?
Tell me what you agreed, or what you thought you agreed. I’ll tell you where you stand.