Business Dispute Resolution

A written partnership agreement is the governing document which sets out what you can and can’t do, and how to do it. If you don’t follow those terms you will be in breach, regardless of how bad the other partner’s conduct was.

Unless otherwise agreed, partnership assets can only be used for the business of that partnership.

Business Dispute: My business partner has signed us up to a contract I don’t agree with. Are we bound by it? Probably yes – a partner has the ability to bind the entire firm.However, if you think the contract shouldn’t have been entered into – or you have a written partnership agreement which would limit the ability to enter into contracts of a certain value unilaterally – you might have…

Business Dispute: Should I have a written partnership agreement? Yes. In the absence of a written agreement there’s the risk of argument as to what was agreed between the partners, and the law can impose things which you would otherwise never have intended.The costs of trying to fix a problem will be significantly more expensive than having a proper agreement in place at the outset to minimise the risks of…

A cryptocurrency firm has successfully taken legal action to prevent its former managing director competing against it and from revealing confidential information. Mark Aspin Director and Head of Dispute Resolution reports. The case involved Gemini Europe Ltd and Sawyer (2020). Gemini was part of a group of companies dealing in cryptocurrencies. In November 2019, it had engaged Mr Sawyer as its managing director. The contract included a non-compete clause preventing…

The High Court has settled a dispute between two partners who had worked together for many years in a restaurant business. Tariq Mahmood Malik and Mahboob Hussain Junior had opened a restaurant known as the “Nawaab” in 2003. They were equal joint owners of the property in which it was situated and equal joint shareholders in the company through which it was run (the Stockport Road company). In 2006 they…

The government is extending the temporary measures it introduced to protect businesses from insolvency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mark Aspin Director & Head of Dispute Resolution provides an update. The measures are contained in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act and were due to expire on 30th September 2020. They will now continue until the end of the year and in some cases, into next year. They include: companies and…

LAWYERS have won a landmark ruling in an insolvency case of a hospitality business hit by the COVID-19 pandemic which brings new legal meaning to “in jeopardy”. The case, won by the Dispute Resolution team at leading legal firm Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, involved a West Cumbrian business which took two leases – one for a hotel and another for a  restaurant. To raise part of the capital the business accepted…

A businessman who misappropriated large sums of money from his company has been ordered to refund more than £5 million to his former partner. The case involved Ashank Patel and Mohammad Babar Iqbal, who had been partners in a property development business. After some of the projects suffered delays due to cashflow problems, Patel discovered that Iqbal had been misappropriating funds from the business, resulting in losses of around £5…

Natalie Tatton Solicitor in our Dispute Resolution Team provides an update. The stay on issuing new and progressing existing possession proceedings has been extended until 23rd August 2020. Lord Greenhalgh, the minister of state for housing, communities, and local government, revealed the date in the House of Lords. He said: “From 24 August 2020, the courts will begin to process possession cases again. This is an important step towards ending…