Settling shareholder disputes in mediation – It aint over till its over

The famous Yankee baseball coach Yogi Berra used to say "It ain't over till it's over".

A recent case shows that if you are settling a complex shareholder dispute you need to ensure that there is a binding agreement. An agreement in principle doesn't cut it. The NSW Supreme Court recently confirmed this in the matter of Leslie Muir Holdings Pty Limited.

The parties to the dispute were brother and sister (which is a pretty sad place to start) and they were fighting over assets owned by a family company. The sister shareholder argued that the company was operating in a way that was contrary to the interests of its members as a whole, and was oppressive, unfairly prejudicial or discriminatory against her.