Stakeholder Advisory & Dispute Resolution

A stakeholder is defined as “a party that has an interest in a company and can either affect or be affected by the business.”  There can be many different kinds of stakeholders, but often, the primary stakeholders in a corporation are the shareholders, investors  and family member(s).

A disagreement amongst stakeholders will regularly lead to a deadlock. Unlike in the case of creditors, there is not always a cost-effective process for dealing with the interests of stakeholders who are more than just creditors, who are owed money. There are other interests at issue that may be difficult to value financially or may go beyond “money”.  Litigation is often the next step, which can be very costly, may not help either party to achieve their business goals and often is a zero-sum game.

Albert Gelman Inc.’s Stakeholder Advisory & Dispute Resolution service can serve as an alternative to litigation in an effort to achieve a result that takes business and financial factors into consideration together with legal issues. Rather than a zero-sum game, with the appropriate third-party participation, stakeholders may achieve resolutions that are more creative than a court could order and result in many stakeholders’ interests being satisfied.

In a particular case that we were involved in, the presiding Judge advised that Judges are not business people.  They will make decisions on the legal issues involved but often times they will not help to resolve the business issues which has led to the deterioration of the business.  In our particular case, the Judge indicated the following in his endorsement:

“Going down a litigation route will destroy the business[es] financially… a far more preferable solution is to appoint Albert Gelman Inc. as a court appointed consultant to propose business solutions to the problems that are causing the businesses to be destabilized at the moment…  In that role Mr. Gelman would be acting as an officer of the court and would report to me, not to the parties…”

The professionals at Albert Gelman Inc. can be engaged by the Stakeholders (or the Court) to assist in resolving the issues between the parties and offering business solutions which may not have already been proposed.

If you are involved in a corporate divorce or a shareholder dispute, Albert Gelman Inc., can assist to resolve the issue at hand, both with a court-appointment or privately. Contact us for more information.