What should I do before suing a business partner?

The case is built before it is filed

By the time a dispute with a business partner reaches a courtroom, the outcome is largely fixed by the record that already exists: the contracts, the emails, the minutes, the payments. Courts decide on evidence, not on who feels wronged, and Art. 8 CC puts the burden of proving a fact on whoever derives a right from it. The weeks before proceedings are therefore not a waiting period, they are when the case is actually made.

Start by securing everything relevant while you still have access: the agreements and their amendments, correspondence, board and shareholder minutes, invoices and accounting records. If your partner controls shared systems or the company's files, secure copies now, lawfully: access has a way of disappearing once the dispute is open. Write a chronology while memories are fresh; it will discipline both the legal analysis and your negotiating position.

Quantify, precisely

"He owes me a lot" is not a claim. Work out exactly what you are claiming, on what legal basis, and how each amount is evidenced. The exercise is sobering and useful: it usually shows that part of the claim is strong and part is speculative, which changes both the demand and the realistic settlement range.

Just as important is the other side of the ledger. Counterclaims are standard in partner disputes; their likely size belongs in your assessment from day one, not as a surprise in the answer to your lawsuit.

The formal demand, and two honest assessments

Send a formal written demand: the facts, the basis, the amount, a deadline, and what follows if it passes unheeded. It also puts the partner in default (Art. 102 CO), and where you are waiting on performance rather than money, the deadline you set is what later opens the choices in Art. 107 CO. A precise demand puts the dispute on record, stops drift, and tests whether the matter can settle before costs escalate.

If assets or evidence look likely to disappear in the meantime, interim measures under Art. 261 CPC are available, but they need to be prepared before they are needed rather than improvised.

Before going further, assess two things without sentiment. First, enforcement: a judgment against a partner who cannot pay, or whose wealth sits inside the very company you are fighting over, may be worth little. Second, economics: litigation costs money, management attention and usually the relationship itself. A negotiated settlement at a discount is often worth more than a judgment years later, but only when it is negotiated from a documented, quantified position.

Conciliation comes first anyway

Art. 197 CPC channels most claims through a conciliation authority before a court will hear the merits. Treat that not as a formality but as the cheapest realistic opportunity to settle. A settlement recorded there (Art. 208 CPC) has the effect of a judgment, and in smaller matters the authority can even propose a decision of its own (Art. 210 CPC). Parties who arrive with the record secured, the claim quantified and the enforcement picture understood get visibly better outcomes there.

If a dispute with a business partner is building, it is worth discussing your specific situation with a lawyer before the first formal step, not after.