Two shareholders who can no longer agree have a cruel economy working against them: every month of the dispute is paid for by the business they are arguing over — in legal costs, in management time, and in the customers, staff and funders who notice. The room exists to interrupt that before it does its work.
The Court’s Menu vs the Room’s
A court asked to resolve deadlock or oppression has a short list: order a buy-out, make orders regulating the company’s affairs, or in the last resort wind it up — reached slowly, forensically, expensively, and in public. A mediation can build whatever the parties will agree to: a buy-out staged over time and geared to the company’s actual cash position rather than a theoretical lump sum; a demerger of business lines, client lists or territories; changed governance — board composition, reserved matters, a casting vote, a dividend policy; a defined exit runway with handovers, announcements and covenants; an agreed valuation process with an agreed valuer and agreed brief; and a deadlock-breaking mechanism for the future, which is the term that stops the sequel. None of that is within a judge’s gift, and most of it is what the parties actually need.
The Valuation Fight Is Usually a Proxy
Parties arrive convinced the dispute is arithmetic. It rarely is. Underneath the number sit questions no valuer can price: who built the business, who took the risk in the bad years, who has been drawing more than they contributed, who was promised what and by whom. The number becomes the scoreboard for all of it — which is why valuation litigation so often fails to end the conflict even when it produces a figure. A mediation can address both layers: the grievance gets heard, confidentially, by someone neutral (frequently for the first time), and the valuation gets structured sensibly — an agreed basis, an agreed mechanism for differences, payment terms reflecting real cash flow, deferred or earn-out elements where a departing party’s contribution still matters. The mediator values nothing and decides nothing; the process gets the parties to a basis they both accepted, which holds far better than one imposed. Two practical disciplines: the company-law machinery (transfers, resignations, constitutional amendments, buy-back mechanics, security for deferred payments) is drafted alongside so the deal can actually be implemented, and the tax treatment goes to your accountant and Revenue’s guidance before signature — buy-outs and deferred payments carry consequences that change a deal’s real value. The full picture is on the shareholder disputes page.
The privacy point that usually decides it: petitions and applications are public and surface in due diligence for years. For a business whose value sits in its relationships, that exposure frequently costs more than the disputed shareholding — and it is entirely avoidable in a room.
A company paying for its own civil war? 01 5827148 — entities named first, for the conflicts check.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & Mediator
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors (established 1981), holder of the Law Society of Ireland Diploma in Mediation and a TEP of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. Mediations are conducted at The Ormond Building on Ormond Quay, at the firm’s Kilkenny office, at neutral venues, at the parties’ own premises — or fully online. Fees are agreed in writing with all parties before any mediation begins. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. The content of this website is general information about mediation and Irish law. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every dispute turns on its own facts, and advice on yours requires a consultation.
The mediator is not your legal adviser. Where Mary Molloy Solicitors is appointed as mediator, the mediator is neutral: the mediator acts for no party, advises no party, and does not decide the dispute. All parties are encouraged to take independent legal advice, and in particular to take advice before signing any mediation settlement. The firm does not act as mediator in any dispute in which it acts, or has acted, for a party — conflicts are checked before any appointment is accepted. Where the firm is instructed as solicitor for one party in a mediation, it acts for that party alone and does not act as mediator in that dispute.
Fees. Fees for mediation are agreed in writing with all parties before the mediation begins, and fees for legal services are agreed in writing with the client at the outset. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.
Tax. Nothing on this website is tax advice. Where a dispute or its resolution has tax consequences — succession, business transfers, property, compensation payments — those questions belong with your accountant or tax adviser and with Revenue’s own guidance, and are best addressed before any settlement is signed.