Is Mediation Useful in Resolving Business Partnership Disputes?

Mediation is a collaborative process. It involves working together, instead of being on opposing sides as you would be in litigation. There should be no winners and no losers in mediation. Instead, the parties who are having a disagreement should come together to create a compromise and to find a solution that works for all who are involved in the dispute. 

Because mediation is collaborative, it is a popular approach to resolving disputes when parties are having a disagreement but must resolve the conflict and move forward together. Since business partners usually want to continue company operations and keep working together even when a dispute arises, mediation can be useful in resolving business partnership disputes. However, mediation is not always an appropriate method of dispute resolution.

An Irvine partnership dispute lawyer can help you to determine if mediation is the right option for you when a conflict arises. Brown & Charbonneau, LLP has extensive experience representing individuals who are at odds with their business partners and who need to resolve disagreements to move forward and achieve business success. Give us a call today so we can help you to determine if mediation is useful in resolving business partnership disputes and so we can represent you in either mediation, arbitration, or litigation.

Is Mediation Useful in Resolving Business Partnership Disputes?

Mediation is useful in resolving business partnership disputes if you and your partner are both committed to the process. Mediation involves working with a third party mediator who has experience with communications, behavioral sciences, and the law. The job of a mediator is not to force the parties to come to an agreement, and mediators do not take sides, offer their own opinion on the disagreement, or make any binding decisions. Instead, mediators facilitate open, honest, and productive discussion between business partners when a conflict has arisen.

Mediators cannot compel parties to turn over financial information for forensic accountants to review, and cannot subpoena witnesses. This means mediation may not be effective if you suspect your partner is stealing or if you need to gain access to information to build a case against your partner for a breach of fiduciary duty.  Mediation is also not useful if either you or your partner is unwilling to compromise and either of you seeks only to win.  Mediation is not going to work if only one party can come out ahead, because the other party is unlikely to voluntarily agree to lose.

If, however, you are willing to compromise and work together, mediation can be far preferable to litigation. Mediation helps you to maintain a friendly relationship so you can keep working together in the future and it allows you to create the solutions to your disagreement that are best for your business. Mediation can also be a quicker way to resolve your disagreements and can cost less than going to court to litigate on a partnership dispute.

To learn more about whether mediation is right for you, contact an Irvine partnership dispute lawyer at Brown & Charbonneau, LLP today.