Dispute Resolution - Disputes and Issues Affecting Individual Partners or Members
Many partnership or LLP disputes involve the one, or the few, against the many. Whether a dispute
arises before or after an individual leaves a firm or LLP, the emotional and financial pressures on
the individual can be immense.
Capital, professional reputation, client goodwill – and very often
solvency – can all be at risk. Swift and appropriate action is required to enable the individual
either to fight his corner and remain in the firm or LLP, if that is his wish, or to move on – preferably
with clients – and to extract whatever sums are due to him.
A large proportion of partnership (and
more recently LLP) disputes concern rights and liabilities following retirement of a partner or member,
upon expulsion, or following a dissolution or winding up, and often give rise to accounting, contribution
and indemnity issues. In the case of partnership dissolution it is sometimes advantageous or necessary to
ask the court to appoint a receiver to get in assets and draw up a proper account, particularly where
one or more partners in the dissolved firm, or indeed even the majority or all of the partners, cannot
or will not co-operate in winding up the affairs of the partnership. Equally, with LLPs, individual
members can often pursue winding up or unfair prejudice remedies.
We have considerable experience of
dealing with partnership disputes, and more recently have started dealing with some of the first LLP
disputes, both in seeking to resolve them by way of negotiation or mediation, or if necessary prosecuting
them by way of court proceedings or arbitration.
We regularly advise on such disputes arising out of:
- Retirement
- Dissolution and winding up
- Expulsion
- Fraud, misrepresentation and bad faith
- Breach of non-competition covenants
- Insolvency
We have also represented individual partners in disputes or negotiations with banks,
landlords and others, and the same experience can equally be applied in respect of LLP members.
Our clients include solicitors, accountants, surveyors, actuaries, doctors, farmers, restauranteurs,
musicians and others practising or trading in partnership or as LLPs.
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