Se Habla Español
Shareholder Dispute Mediation in Montgomery County, TX
A dispute between owners can stall a healthy company in weeks. Payroll still runs. Customers still call. Meanwhile the people who built the business stop speaking. We help you reach a signed agreement instead of a courtroom fight.
Let’s TalkWhat Shareholder Dispute Mediation Actually Is
Mediation is a private, confidential negotiation guided by a neutral third party. That neutral does not rule on who is right. Instead, the mediator moves both sides toward terms each can live with.
Texas law protects the process. Under Chapter 154 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, communications made during mediation are confidential. They generally cannot be used as evidence against you later. That protection is what lets owners speak candidly about numbers, motives, and exit terms.
Most Montgomery County civil cases are referred to mediation before trial. The county also operates its own Dispute Resolution Center in Conroe. Many disputes settle there, or in private mediation, long before a jury is ever seated.
Disputes We Help Resolve
Ownership conflicts rarely start as legal problems. They start as disagreements about money, control, or direction. These are the situations we are called into most often.
Deadlock between equal owners
Two fifty percent owners cannot agree, and the company cannot act.
Buyout and valuation fights
One owner wants out. The parties cannot agree on what the shares are worth.
Exclusion from management
A minority owner is cut off from books, records, distributions, or decisions.
Suspected breach of fiduciary duty
Self dealing, diverted opportunities, or unexplained transfers.
Compensation disputes
One owner draws a salary while the others receive nothing.
Family business succession
A generational handoff turns into a dispute among siblings or in-laws.
Departure and competition
A departing owner takes clients, staff, or trade secrets.
Access to books and records
A demand for financials is ignored or answered with incomplete data.
Why Texas Owners Choose Mediation Over Litigation
Texas narrowed the courtroom options for minority owners. In Ritchie v. Rupe, the Texas Supreme Court rejected the common law shareholder oppression claim. That decision removed a remedy many minority owners had relied on for decades.
What remains is narrower. A court may appoint a receiver under Section 11.404 of the Texas Business Organizations Code. The grounds include owner deadlock causing irreparable injury, and illegal, oppressive, or fraudulent acts by those in control. But the statute sets a high bar. A court must also find that every other legal and equitable remedy is inadequate.
Breach of fiduciary duty claims, contract claims, and accounting demands still exist. They are simply slower and more expensive than most owners expect.
Mediation avoids that math. It is faster, it is private, and it lets you design a result a judge could not order. A court cannot write your payment schedule, your non-compete radius, or your customer division. You and the other owner can.
How the Process Works
Confidential case review
We review your governing documents first. The company agreement, bylaws, shareholder agreement, and buy-sell provisions usually control the outcome.
Position and leverage assessment
We tell you plainly what a court could and could not do. That honest read is what makes a settlement number realistic.
Information exchange
Valuation, financials, and records requests are handled before the mediation date, not during it.
Mediator selection
We recommend neutrals with real closely held business experience, not general civil mediators.
The mediation session
Most sessions run a single day. The parties usually sit in separate rooms while the mediator moves between them.
The written agreement
A settlement reached in mediation is documented and signed that day. We then paper the buyout, release, or restructuring.
Implementation
Share transfers, filings, banking changes, and Secretary of State updates are handled to completion.
When Mediation Is Not the Answer
We will tell you when to fight. Mediation is a poor fit when assets are actively being drained. The same is true when records are withheld outright. Sometimes a temporary restraining order is the only thing that stops the bleeding. In those cases, filing first and mediating later is the stronger sequence.
Local Knowledge That Matters
The firm is based in Spring and serves Montgomery County. Civil business disputes here are heard in the district courts in Conroe, including the 9th, 284th, 359th, 410th, and 457th. The county also operates the Dispute Resolution Center at 301 N. Thompson in Conroe.
Knowing how these courts handle scheduling, referral orders, and temporary relief changes strategy. It affects when you mediate. It also affects how much leverage you hold when you walk into the room.
About Your Attorney
Andres Arguello
Andres Arguello leads The Arguello Law Office, PLLC. He counsels Montgomery County business owners through ownership disputes, entity formation, and commercial litigation. The firm serves clients in English and Spanish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is mediation binding?
The mediation itself is not. The written settlement agreement you sign at the end is. Once executed, it is enforceable as a contract.
How long does it take?
Most shareholder mediations are scheduled within sixty to ninety days. Most resolve in a single session.
Can the other owner refuse to mediate?
Privately, yes. Once a lawsuit is filed, a Texas court can order the parties to mediation.
What if we have no shareholder agreement?
Then the default rules of the Texas Business Organizations Code apply. Those defaults rarely match what either owner assumed. Mediation becomes more valuable, not less.
Will this become public?
No. Mediation communications are confidential under Section 154.073. Litigation filings, by contrast, are public record.
Do you represent both owners?
No. We represent one side. Joint representation in a dispute between owners is a conflict.
Related Business Law Services
Ready to Resolve Your Ownership Dispute?
A dispute between owners rarely improves on its own. Talk with a Montgomery County business attorney about whether mediation fits your situation.
Let’s Talk
TESTIMONIALS
What others are saying
Get In Touch
Assistance Hours
Mon-Fri: 9am to 5:30pm
Sunday – CLOSED
Se Habla Español
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn