Unfortunately, the reality for many business owners in Maryland is that the greatest threat to your business may not be the actions of your competitors, but rather a dispute with your business partners.  Reasons for partnership disputes often include, but not limited to:

-Disputes over business decisions

-Cash flow shortages

-Economic pressures caused by a change in a partner’s “personal life”

-The prospect of greater business success

If you are experiencing a serious dispute with your partner that is escalating and affecting your business operations, you must implement immediate measures to secure your business and the equity interests that you have worked so long and hard to create.

At Nowicki & Associates, our experienced Maryland partnership dispute attorneys assist small businesses and individuals within limited liability companies, joint ventures and partnerships with a variety of business dispute matters.  Our Maryland business litigation lawyers can provide representation to start or defend litigation, as well as help you develop strategies to avoid future disagreements.

Under Maryland law, business partners have fiduciary duties and obligations.  These fiduciary duties not only touch the business, but also outside opportunities that may be only tangentially related to the business.  It is important to understand your rights and obligations in relation to your business associates and partners.

A partnership dispute can result in lost profits and implosion of the business.  However, careful planning can prevent such disastrous outcomes.  If you are forming a partnership, or facing a dispute, contact us today to resolve the issue.  Don’t let a dispute threaten your entire business and offset your investment into the business.

It is important to address issues, or potential issues, that could lead to partnership disputes as soon as possible.  It is often much more difficult and costly to try to deal with a dispute once it has arisen rather than working around the problems initially.  These could include:

-Control of Partnership Agreement

-Claims for Breach of Fiduciary Duty – many partnership disputes involve a claim of breach of fiduciary duty against one or more of the partners.  This can include breach of contract, fraud, misuse of partnership funds or misappropriation of funds or assets.

-Misappropriation of Funds

-Partnership Dissolution – a partnership can be completely dissolved, reworked to change the authority and ownership interest of each partner, or continued by one or more partners after a partner withdraws.

-Divorce and Probate Disputes

-Removal of a Partner – removing one partner from a partnership can be a complex legal matter.  Partnership agreements often dictate the terms of removal.

Partnership disputes may be dealt with through alternative methods of dispute resolution such as negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, or via litigation.  In any case, the cost would most likely be far greater than simply preventing the causes of the dispute in the first place.

The Maryland business litigation attorneys at Nowicki & Associates will conduct a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding your partnership dispute to ensure your rights are protected and you are spared from any unnecessary risk and liability.

If you are interested in learning how Nowicki & Associates can help you, contact our office to arrange a consultation. Call us at 410-879-0026 or email Tyler J. Nowicki, Esq. directly at Tnowicki@jwnlaw.com. All consultations are free and we’ll take the time to answer each and every question.