ILLUSTRATIONS: VICTORIA PARK JUNE 2016 BCBusiness 23
Beyond Dispute
D - I - Y M a n a g e m e n t
Be reAsoNABLe
Be careful that you don't ignore
the stakeholders, says Horn. Even
when they have less power or fewer
•nancial resources, their interests
still need to be addressed in a fair
and even-handed way. "When you're
negotiating with somebody or even
just resolving a dispute, acting in
good faith is not just focusing on
your own needs and your own
desires but also considering where
are they coming from," says Stewart.
turN to A third PArtY
Having an independent director
on the board might help prevent
or resolve a dispute, says Horn.
"Bringing the right independent
expertise in when there is actually a
dispute might help you get to a path
on resolution." Depending on the
issue, that expert could be a techni-
cal advisor, a •nancial advisor, a
governance specialist or legal help.
Or even a therapist to do relation-
ship counselling, suggests Stewart,
since disputes often stem from
personality con˜icts.
CoMMuNiCAte
"It's pretty much like any other relation-
ship—communications are really important
if you're looking at keeping and promot-
ing good business relationships among the
directors, shareholders, family members and
friends," says Stewart. "If you're not commu-
nicating with your stakeholders eœectively,
there will be a challenge at some point,"
warns Horn. "Good, constructive, transpar-
ent communication will help you avoid a dis-
pute and will certainly help you avoid being
in a court or arbitration."
get AN AgreeMeNt
A shareholder agreement establishes
what the expected roles are for share-
holders, directors and management,
explains Horn. It would also address
dispute resolution: what mechanisms
there are to solve the dispute, or
if somebody's unhappy, how they
sell their shares. "If you have share-
holder agreements or partnership
agreements in place or policies that
would deal with whatever the issue
is, then you can pull those out and
go through the process and with any
luck that will resolve the problem,"
says Stewart.
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MediAte, ArBitrAte or
go to Court
"And in that order, you're going from
the simplest to the most complex—
and cheapest to most expensive,"
says Horn. "You're not going to get
a binding decision from a media-
tor; you can get a binding decision
from an arbitrator; and you will get a
binding decision from a court." The
mediation and arbitration process
is con•dential—unlike court, which
is public, notes Stewart. She recom-
mends Mediate BC, whose members
have experience in diœerent types of
business and disputes.
5
A disgruntled stakeholder can disrupt a business–and not in a good
way. Blair Horn, partner at Fasken Martineau, and Vivienne Stewart,
principal of Railtown Law, offer tips on how to avoid,
and resolve, such discontent
by Felicity Stone
