Keeping the family business intact over several generations is a challenging task. Research suggests that only 30 percent of family businesses survive the transition from the first to the second generation and only 30 percent of those survive to the third generation. All too often, family business disputes result in the business failing or being sold and the family being torn apart.

The conflicts that arise between the family members running a business together are not unsolvable but it can take work, negotiation, advance planning and good communication.

Traditionally, the tool used by family members to resolve disputes has been attorneys and the court system. Litigation, however, is a terrible way to resolve a family business dispute. It is incredibly expensive, it is public and it usually causes irreparable damage to the relationships of the people involved. Plus, the court system is ill equipped to deal with the emotional aspects of a family business dispute, and most all family business disputes are rooted in some emotional misunderstanding or problem.

Dr. Glass, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Marriage and Family Therapist , and Mediator provides years of experience enabling her to address these emotional obstacles, to facilitate communication and to resolve issues of estrangement and resentment. Dr. Glass can help the family members to resolve emotional misunderstandings and addresses both the pragmatics of the business and the emotional/relational issues of the dispute.

Public disputes can be devastating to both the family and the business. However, Mediation is confidential, and allows family members and business partners to minimize legal costs, keep the business running, and control the decision making process. It is the most rapid process available for a full and final resolution of disputes. Unlike litigation, which can take years to get to court, Mediation can be initiated within a reasonable amount of time.

With Mediation, both parties, not a judge, maintain control over the process and the outcome. The parties are able to craft their own resolution so that it can include terms that are not achievable in a court battle.