Partnership and fiduciary disputes concern business relationships in which authority, loyalty, care or financial responsibilities are contested. TKST examines the relationship, the governing documents and the specific conduct alleged. The assessment identifies who owed a duty, to whom it was owed and what evidence supports the claimed breach.
Where TKST can help
Partner relationships
Disputes over authority, contributions, distributions and agreed responsibilities.
Conflicts of interest
Allegations involving self-dealing, competing activities or business opportunities.
Business records and remedies
Financial tracing, access to information and options for addressing the conflict.
Name the duty, the decision and the alleged harm
A strained relationship does not by itself explain a fiduciary claim. Begin with the person’s legal role and the decision being challenged. Establish what was disclosed, who approved the conduct and how it allegedly affected the company or another owner. Documents showing authority and approval can be as important as financial records. The legal response should also address practical control of accounts, systems and ongoing commitments without escalating uncertainty unnecessarily.
Identify the entity and each participant’s role
Determine whether the business is a partnership, limited partnership, LLC, corporation, or another arrangement. Confirm its state of formation and the roles held by the people involved. A person may be an owner, manager, employee, lender, or several of these at once. Each role may carry different rights and obligations. A dispute should be analyzed through the relevant structure rather than the terminology used informally among colleagues.
Collect the operating or partnership agreement, amendments, contribution records, management provisions, and any related employment or loan documents. Public registration records may help identify an entity but do not necessarily reveal its internal agreement. Georgia’s Secretary of State rules for LLC filings state that operating agreements are not accepted for filing. The company’s own records therefore deserve careful attention.
Connect the alleged duty to specific conduct
Fiduciary allegations may concern conflicts of interest, use of business opportunities, handling of funds, or management decisions. Identify who owed the asserted duty, to whom, and under what law or agreement. The scope can depend on the entity, role, governing documents, and circumstances. A poor business result alone does not answer whether a legally enforceable duty was breached.
Describe the challenged conduct precisely. Which transfer, transaction, decision, or omission is at issue? Who authorized it, what information was disclosed, and what approval process was used? Preserve contemporaneous records rather than relying solely on a later explanation. A disciplined account can distinguish a disagreement about business judgment from an allegation of self-dealing or an unauthorized act.
Follow the money without jumping to conclusions
Financial concerns require source documents. Gather bank statements, ledgers, invoices, expense records, loan documents, and distribution histories that you can lawfully access. Identify who prepared summaries and how entries were classified. A payment described as a distribution may need to be distinguished from compensation, reimbursement, loan repayment, or an advance. The label in one spreadsheet may not resolve the underlying transaction.
Prepare a chronology of disputed payments and connect each to an agreement, approval, or supporting record where available. Flag missing information and competing explanations. An accountant or other financial professional may assist with tracing and valuation, but the legal significance still depends on the applicable duties and claims. Related allegations of intentional deception may require a separate fraud analysis.
Assess access to information lawfully
Owners may have rights to certain records, but the scope, purpose, process, and conditions require review under the governing law and agreement. Make a focused inventory of what is needed and why. Counsel can assess a records request and the response. Do not assume that ownership authorizes unlimited access to every personal device, private email account, or confidential third-party file.
If access to company systems changes, preserve evidence of the change and its business effect. Avoid retaliatory lockouts or unilateral deletion of another participant’s files. Necessary security measures should be evaluated with legal and operational considerations in mind. The immediate objective is to preserve legitimate operations and evidence while determining the parties’ rights, not to win a technical contest over passwords.
What to have ready for an initial conversation
- Partnership or operating agreements and amendments
- Records of contributions, distributions and challenged payments
- Approvals, disclosures and related-party agreements
- A timeline of disputed decisions and business impacts
Start with general information. The firm must assess conflicts and the scope of representation before receiving sensitive records.
Questions to help you take the next step
Does every business relationship create fiduciary duties?
No. The duties depend on the relationship, legal role and applicable law. Counsel should identify the source and scope of a duty before evaluating whether it was breached.
Can the same conduct create a contract claim?
It may. An agreement and a legal duty can raise distinct issues, with different requirements and remedies. Each theory should be assessed on its own terms.
Should partners move money or change access during the dispute?
Obtain specific advice before changing accounts, permissions or business control. Those steps can affect operations, evidence and the parties’ rights.
Updated October 7, 2026. General information, not legal advice. The applicable law and procedure depend on the facts.