Family businesses are important economic institutions, but can also face complex disputes. Family ties, love, expectations and a sense of obligation meet commercial interests, financial pressure and differing opinions. Managing conflict carefully matters both for the business’s continuity and for the family’s relationships. Nadav Nishri presents the New Partnership Method as an approach that attends to both.
Understanding the emotional dimension
Mediation in a family business requires sensitivity to the relationships between the people involved. The New Partnership Method focuses on the business disagreement alongside rebuilding trust, developing open dialogue and understanding each participant’s emotional needs. It aims to help people feel heard, rather than merely having their positions analysed.
Instead of a contest over who is right, the process offers space to express frustration, fears and aspirations, and use that conversation to develop stable agreements.
Responsible attention to legal arrangements
The legal dimension remains part of the process. Decisions and agreements need to be considered with their legal implications in mind. The work includes:
- Mapping existing rights, obligations, shares, contracts and agreements.
- Examining future decision-making procedures, the distinction between ownership and management, and the allocation of professional and family responsibilities.
- Developing an agreed draft that addresses future safeguards, such as exit arrangements, procedures for resolving later disputes and the definition of key roles.
The aim is an arrangement that considers emotional needs alongside legal requirements.
The benefits the approach seeks to offer
- Protecting family relationships: giving the family an opportunity to address disagreement without an adversarial legal battle.
- Discretion: conducting sensitive discussions in a confidential process rather than a public dispute.
- Control over the outcome: participants develop solutions by agreement, rather than having a result imposed on them.
- Time and cost: seeking a focused process that may reduce the time and expense associated with prolonged proceedings; the actual course depends on the dispute.
- A tailored arrangement: developing agreements suited to the particular business and family.
- Renewed trust: creating an opportunity to address the immediate problem and lay foundations for future cooperation.
The method connects the emotional and practical dimensions of the dispute. Its ambition is not only to resolve the present conflict, but also to create conditions for continued cooperation, a workable balance between business and family, and continuity for future generations. In Nishri’s words, the work is about building bridges rather than breaking relationships.
For a confidential conversation about whether this approach may suit your family business, contact Nishri Mediators through the original article.