Partnership dispute. Legal advice

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Pete Hope

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Is there anyone here who has been through a legal dispute of an airplane they co-own? Did you retain a lawyer and do you have any advice regarding your experience?

TIA!
 
You might want to check with AOPA.
 
What kind of ownership??
What is the dispute??
 
When our partnership had a problem child, the other members studied our agreement (based on the AOPA boilerplate), and came up with a plan to rightfully remove the problem member which we thought was valid within the confines of the agreement. Then we did a free "first consult" with an aviation attorney, who validated our first attempt and said call back with some money if we needed more help. Our first plan worked. We had the advantage of a majority, if it is just two of you it might be more difficult.
 
Issue is not that easily resolved!
 
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Hm...does this call for an aviation or contract or criminal lawyer?
Call AOPA for ideas and reference to local lawyers in your area.
 
Pete Hope said:
Issue is that other partner has taken plane and locked in his hanger. I need a lawyer that will petition a judge to take ownership and sell the plane. Should be a simple case but would like to know of good aviation lawyers.
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Any contract lawyer or general practice lawyer can examine the contract and hear your side of the story (facts) and determine whether you have a case to Petition the Court for a forced sale or possession of the aircraft. Just because it's an airplane doesn't mean it's complicated. The plane is just property of the partnership. The partnership agreement controls the parties obligations and responsibilities.

That one party has locked the plane in a hangar and refused to allow possession or use of the plane to other parties in the partnership seems like whatever the issue is, it isn't going to be worked out without the involvement of a lawyer. Most lawyers will offer free consultations. Go get a couple and explore your options. Contact AOPA for lawyers in your area that may be able to help. This probably won't be cheap.
 
It's never cheap when lawyers are involved, however sometimes you've got no other options. That's life. I guess we all have to make a living somehow!
 
What is the nature of your partnership ? An entity (Corp, LLC etc.) or are you just joint owners with your names on the registration. Are there bylaws or an operating agreement ?
What is his justification for keeping you from using the jointly owned aircraft ?

Fundamentally your dispute is no different from two farmers who somehow share ownership of a combine or dozer. Nothing really aviation specific to it. Any local attorney who deals in contract disputes should be able to help you.
 
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imwithtuxedo said:
Any contract lawyer or general practice lawyer can examine the contract....
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This is possibly an important factor...was there a contract?

I’ve been in two airplane partnerships with my brother where we chose not to have any written contract, but pretty much anybody else I’d want a contract with a clear exit strategy.
 
Sounds like there's more to this than we know.

If your desired resolution is to force the sale of the plane, I'm guessing something happened to cause your partner to take the rather drastic action he/she did.

One of you not flying it much, or at all? Don't want to pay to keep it maintained? Just a WAG.

Regardless, a negotiated solution is always better than getting the lawyers involved. Although a well crafted letter from a lawyer might be needed to motivate people to come to the table.
 
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Yeah, I’m wondering why they did what they did. There has to be more to this story.
 
Pete Hope said:
Is there anyone here who has been through a legal dispute of an airplane they co-own? Did you retain a lawyer and do you have any advice regarding your experience?

TIA!
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How about some details?
 
BrianNC said:
How about some details?
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There really isn't much more to tell. I'm really not looking to make this a TV drama, I just wanted to ask if anyone had experience in this realm. Happy to PM with someone who may have gone through something similar (a partnership where you no longer agree on the use of the plane).
 
Pete Hope said:
There really isn't much more to tell. I'm really not looking to make this a TV drama, I just wanted to ask if anyone had experience in this realm. Happy to PM with someone who may have gone through something similar (a partnership where you no longer agree on the use of the plane).
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Haven't gotten into any fights over an airplane, but have settled a lot of disputes related to commercial matters and contracts over my career. Readers Digest version:
  1. There's clearly a serious breakdown of trust involved in this situation if one party has locked the other party out. If there is any possibility of rebuilding enough of that to get talking again, that should be your first priority. Use an intermediary that both of you trust, if you must, to reestablish some form of reasonable communication.
  2. A negotiated settlement is always better than going to court. As long as you are negotiating you have some control over the outcome; once you walk into the courtroom, no matter how strong a case you think you have, you have given up any control over the result. Even a settlement "on the courthouse steps" is usually better than walking inside.
  3. How does your partnership agreement contemplate dealing with whatever the underlying issue is that precipitated the dispute? If the agreement is silent on that matter, all the more reason to try to achieve 1 and 2 above. If the agreement contemplated the particular circumstance then you might start by making your case to your partner (with or without the help of legal counsel) in writing, and be clear if the matter cannot be resolved amicably you intend to seek whatever remedies your agreement allows for.
  4. If your partner stonewalls you and is unresponsive, then find appropriate legal counsel and review the agreement and facts of the case, and let them advise on your practical and legal alternatives.
 
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Did we not see something similar to this earlier this year?
 
Pete Hope said:
There really isn't much more to tell. I'm really not looking to make this a TV drama, I just wanted to ask if anyone had experience in this realm. Happy to PM with someone who may have gone through something similar (a partnership where you no longer agree on the use of the plane).
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Here's your problem. You are right to not go into details on a public social media forum. OTOH, the devil is always in the details. That's why real problems indicate the use of real professionals.

You asked for "legal advice" in the title. There's only one way to get that. Unfortunately, lawyers are cheaper to help prevent a problem than to help fix it.
 
As my late father in law, the lawyer taught me, "Documents don't enforce themselves, people do"... In other words, paper everything, but perform heavy due diligence on your partners.
 
As others have said, call a lawyer. The partnership contract, ownership agreement, names on title and other info will be valuable for the lawyer to know.
 
Pete Hope said:
There really isn't much more to tell.
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Anyone will need to know much more in order to give legal advice. Preferably a lawyer licensed to practice in your state. A lay person who's been through something similar might commiserate, but unless the facts and applicable law are exactly the same, their advice may not be useful. Your rights here will depend on a number of things specific to your situation, including your legal relationship with the co-owner, the terms of any written agreement, and your state's law. This is a sucky situation for sure.
 
JCranford said:
You don’t need a lawyer, you need a pair of bolt cutters and maybe a crowbar.
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I'm a little surprised you're suggesting B&E. As I read it, the OP said the plane was moved to the other persons hangar. Not that the locks were changed on the partnerships hangar. Sure, one guy seems to have resulted to "self help" by denying access to the common property, but that will be no defense if OP commits a crime to recover his access.

Just like if my neighbor and I buy a riding lawn mower together and subsequently have a falling out, he can't break into my garage to cut his grass. Nor can I break into his if that's where the co-owned equipment sits.
 
TCABM said:
Did we not see something similar to this earlier this year?
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iflyvfr said:
I was going to post same question. I can't find it using search...
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IIRC, the case earlier in the year was to recover the airplane from an FBO because of some perceived non-payment. Similar in denial of access, but different since it wasn't a partner dispute.
 
If you were in a business partnership and a partner took all the assets what would you do?

I would contact the police and file a report for the theft of your property. If there are more partners, they should do the same. Then go talk to your local prosecutor.
 
Clip4 said:
If you were in a business partnership and a partner took all the assets what would you do?

I would contact the police and file a report for the theft of your property. If there are more partners, they should do the same. Then go talk to your local prosecutor.
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The police will say: 'This is a civil dispute. Call us when you have a court order you want us to execute.'
 
:yeahthat:

Had a partner help himself to $30k. Police and the bank both told us to pound sand.
 
Ravioli said:
Had a partner help himself to $30k. Police and the bank both told us to pound sand.
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Police have more important things to do than get into partnership disputes even if it might technically be a crime (I handled a case years ago - not aviation - where an assistant DA decided to prosecute one of these; it was a cluster!). I wouldn't expect a bank to do anything (even if a local community bank which cared) if someone with authority on the account withdrew money.

OTOH, I was brought into dispute among the members of an airplane LLC where a member fell into financial hardship and caused some serious problems. Fortunately they had an excellent operating agreement (I did't write it but I sure stole form it later) and one letter (and some luck) stopped the bleeding and pretty much resolved everything.
 
weilke said:
The police will say: 'This is a civil dispute. Call us when you have a court order you want us to execute.'
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The police wont execute the court order either. Thats the realm of Constables.

Ravioli said:
I'm a little surprised you're suggesting B&E.
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B&E? Me? Never...

The crowbar was for the partner's head...
 
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