Corporate disputes are rarely purely legal. They may involve business partners, family members or people who built a business together and now disagree about how it is run, who controls it or where it is going. The personal dimension can make the dispute harder and narrow the options the parties can see. Most matters that reach a corporate disputes lawyer come down to control of the business or an exit from the company.
That is why we look at every corporate dispute from the outcome first: what does a workable solution actually look like? In some cases that means pursuing a clear legal right through the courts. In others it may mean an agreed exit, a buy-out of a shareholding, a change in governance or another arrangement that lets the parties move on.
You can win the dispute and lose the business. The strategy has to keep both in view
Litigation between partners is not always the only route. But where judicial protection is required, it has to be clear what we are seeking and why.
Litigation Experience
A representative example: piercing the corporate veil
We successfully represented an English company in a cross-border dispute in which the claimant sought to pierce the corporate veil. The claim was dismissed in our client's favour.
Transactional experience
A representative example: complex corporate structures
Advisory experience on shareholders' agreements, joint ventures and acquisitions — including the acquisition of gold mines and of a private island — gives us practical knowledge of how corporate relationships are structured and of the issues that can later lead to a dispute.
Negotiation Experience
A representative example: exit strategy
Where litigation is not the right answer, we look at ways of achieving an agreed exit — from valuation and buy-out of a shareholding through to restructuring the governance — with the aim of resolving the dispute and preserving the value of the company.