If you have business partners, there is a good chance that you won’t agree on everything with those individuals. While many disagreements can be resolved with good communication and a willingness to compromise, serious issues may take more to resolve. In some cases, it may be necessary to ask a Georgia judge to determine how the dispute should be settled.

Consult the partnership agreement

Ideally, you and your partners would have come to a written agreement as to how the company would be run. If this is true, the document should outline protocols for how disagreements are resolved. For instance, a disagreement might be settled by allowing all of the partners to vote with the majority getting its way. A partnership agreement may also stipulate that you have the final say regarding certain issues while other partners have final say over others.

Mediation may be an option

It’s possible that the protocols outlined in a partnership agreement won’t be sufficient to come to any sort of consensus. Therefore, it may be necessary to seek the help of a mediator who may be able to facilitate a conversation between yourself and the other parties to the dispute. A mediator may suggest that a partnership agreement be rewritten or that other steps be taken to address everyone’s concerns.

Leave the company

Even if you obtain a favorable outcome in a particular dispute, your partners retain bitter feelings about what happened. If you don’t think that you can salvage a working relationship with the other owners, it may be best to sell your stake. Alternatively, it may be best to allow your partners to leave in lieu of litigation that might result in the business being involuntarily liquidated.

Resolving a business dispute may be easier when you have strong evidence to back your position in the matter. Having copies of a partnership agreement, client emails or other relevant documents may make it easier to come to an amicable understanding in a timely manner.