Litigation When the Person You Built It With Becomes the Problem. Partnership disputes are not like other business disputes. You picked this person. You may be related to them. Your accountant, your lease and your bank account are all in both names, and the argument you are having now is happening inside a company that still has to make payroll on Friday. We represent owners on both sides of these. The one being squeezed out, and the one being accused of doing the squeezing.
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What It Looks Like It Almost Never Starts With a Lawsuit. It starts with something small enough to let go. Then it happens again.
01 You stopped getting the numbers Financials arrive late, then summarized, then not at all. In New York a member or shareholder has a statutory right to inspect books and records, and a refusal is often the first provable act in a much larger case.
02 Your role got smaller Removed from the bank signature card, cut out of decisions you used to make, left off meetings. Freeze-out rarely happens in one move. It happens in six small ones over a year.
03 The money is going somewhere else Salary raised without consent, family on payroll, company funds paying personal expenses, a side entity taking work the company should have had. That last one is a diverted corporate opportunity and it is its own claim.
04 Nobody can break the tie Fifty-fifty ownership with no tiebreaker written into the agreement. Deadlock is its own legal problem, and in the right circumstances it supports a dissolution petition.
05 You want out and they set the price Buyout talks where the number moves every time you get close. What your share is worth is a legal question with real levers, not a matter of who negotiates harder.
06 One of you is leaving and competing A departing partner taking clients, staff or the customer list. Whether that is enforceable depends on the operating agreement, on fiduciary duty, and on what was taken rather than what was said.
07 There was never an agreement A handshake, a shared LLC, and nothing written down about who owns what. More common than people expect. Default statutory rules fill the gap, and they are frequently not what either of you assumed.
Where This Ends There Are Four Real Outcomes. Pick Early. Almost every partnership dispute resolves into one of these. Deciding which one you actually want changes the strategy from the first letter, and the people who do worst are the ones who never decide.
01 You leave, on terms you agreed to A negotiated buyout. Fastest, cheapest and quietest, and the business survives. This is where most of these should end, and where they do end when both sides get advice early enough to be realistic.
02 You force a buyout A dissolution petition under BCL 1104-a can trigger an election to purchase your shares at fair value under 1118. The threat is real leverage precisely because the other side loses control of the price once it is filed.
03 The business is wound up Judicial dissolution, assets sold, proceeds divided. Usually the worst financial result for everyone, which is exactly why the credible possibility of it moves negotiations.
04 You stay, and take control Removal of a manager, an accounting, damages for breach of fiduciary duty, or enforcement of the agreement as written. Right where the other side is the one who broke something and you want to keep the company.
Either Chair Being Accused Is Not the Same as Being Wrong. We act for owners on both sides. A partner who runs the company day to day and gets accused of oppression is often just the one who kept working while the other stopped.
If you're being squeezed out → We serve the books and records demand that starts the paper trail → We time the petition against the valuation date rather than your temper → We pursue the diverted money, not only the ownership question → We tell you honestly what your share is likely to be worth before you spend
If you're the one being accused → We separate legitimate compensation from what actually looks like self-dealing → We test whether their conduct terminated their own rights first → We keep the company operating while the case runs, which is half the battle → We look at buying them out on your timetable instead of theirs
The strongest position in these cases usually belongs to whoever documented things properly while the relationship was still fine.
Why Ainsworth Gorkin We Write These Agreements. Then We Argue About Them.

Levi drafts operating and shareholder agreements. Shaya litigates what happens when they fail. On a partnership dispute that matters more than it sounds, because the entire case usually turns on a document somebody signed years ago without reading closely.

We know which clauses courts actually enforce, which ones were boilerplate the filing service dropped in, and which silences the statute fills for you.

We also know what these cases cost, and we will tell you when the fight is worth less than the business. A dispute between two owners can consume the thing they are fighting over. Sometimes the right advice is to take a worse number now and keep the company alive.

We're Two Partners, Not a Department

You will not explain your co-founder to a new associate every three months. The person who hears the first call handles the deposition.

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Both Sides of the TableWe bring oppression claims and we defend them. Knowing the defense makes the claim sharper.
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Transactional DepthThese cases turn on governance documents. We draft those, so we read them the way a court will.
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Kings County and BeyondBrooklyn is our home courthouse. We also appear in New York County, the Commercial Division, and New Jersey.
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Honest Cost MathYou get a realistic range before you commit, including when the answer is that this is not worth litigating.
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Annoyingly AvailableThese matters move fast and get personal. You will be able to reach us.
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★★★★★ "He's knowledgeable, professional, and always available to answer my questions. I feel confident in his ability to represent my interests, and I would not hesitate to recommend him to others." — Leah R.
★★★★★ "They demonstrated a solid understanding of the legal issues at hand and handled my case with professionalism and competence. Communication was clear, and they kept me informed throughout the process." — David G.
Read all our Google reviews → Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney advertising.
Questions What Owners Ask In the First Call.
My partner won't show me the books. Can I make them?

Yes. Shareholders and LLC members in New York have statutory inspection rights, and they are enforceable by petition. Beyond the documents themselves, a refusal is useful evidence, because it is hard to explain to a judge later why a co-owner was not allowed to see the financials.

We're 50/50 and can't agree on anything. What happens?

Deadlock is a recognized ground for dissolution when the company genuinely cannot function. Courts do not grant it because two owners dislike each other, so the record has to show real paralysis. It is also one of the strongest settlement levers available, because neither side wants the business sold out from under them.

Can I just quit and get paid for my share?

Careful here. In most LLCs you cannot force the company to buy you out simply by leaving, and resigning can cost you rights you currently hold. Read the operating agreement, and get advice, before you announce anything.

We never signed an operating agreement. Are we stuck?

No, but the default statutory rules now govern, and they are rarely what either owner assumed. Common surprise: without a written agreement, contributions and profit splits may not match what you two verbally agreed. Whatever exists in writing, including emails and texts, becomes disproportionately important.

How much does a partnership dispute cost?

Widely variable, driven mostly by whether it settles before full discovery. Cases that resolve in a negotiated buyout cost a fraction of ones that go to a valuation trial with competing experts. We will give you a range at the free evaluation, and we will tell you when the math does not work.

Can we fix this without going to court?

Often, and it is usually the better outcome. Mediation works unusually well in partnership disputes because both sides have a shared interest in the company continuing to be worth something. It works best when both sides have already had honest advice about what would happen if they litigated.

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Related Practice Areas Corporate & Commercial Disputes → Partnership Agreements → Real Estate Disputes →