Starting again after business partnership breakdown

When business partnerships go wrong, they tend to go wrong in a big way. Apart from the breakdown of what are usually both personal and business relationships, former partners often face serious legal and commercial issues such as dividing partnership assets, dealing with client data, deciding on ownership of intellectual property and personal financial liabilities.

Our client was looking to leave an art sector partnership where relations with his partner had broken down with the aim of minimizing financial losses and ultimately setting up a new rival business. Mutual accusations of theft and misappropriation of partnership monies resulted and our client was at risk of severe consequences if he set up his new company in direct competition to his previous business. Acting without the right advice could have put all his future plans in jeopardy.

Careful assessment of the issues with the client meant we could offer precise advice and recommendations to help overcome each issue. Our advice covered each disputed area of the former partnership including dividing partnership assets, intellectual property issues, sharing a client database and investigating the possibility of requesting an account of the Partnership assets.

Careful negotiation meant that our client was able to exit his former business partnership with a favourable settlement – and without the need for lengthy and costly Court proceedings. Our goal in resolving any partnership dispute is always to find a favourable result without ending up in Court so our clients can get on with running their businesses.