Partnership disputes

Disputes between the partners of professional service firms have a tendency to be highly personal, with reputations, money and careers at stake.

The breakdown of a business relationship can be particularly difficult to tolerate within a dental practice, where there are several owners working in close proximity to one another.

The tendency for people to quickly take sides in a dispute and also to look for allies is also a factor; the more partners there are, the more internal politics are likely to complicate a resolution. For dentists, that resolution is not as simple as one partner leaving and setting up another practice as there may also be the NHS contract issue to debate as well.

In 15 years of handling shareholder disputes it has been my experience that professions such as dentists, doctors, and solicitors produce the most bitter and unpleasant disputes. This is often complicated by the fact that funding an exit of a partner is often more complicated than funding a company sale.