Owners of closely held businesses often begin their relationship with a shared vision, mutual trust, and complementary skill sets. However, when disagreements arise, these relationships can quickly deteriorate into deadlock, freeze-out or exclusion, and allegations of unfair dealing. Deadlock is especially common in 50/50 ownership structures, where neither owner holds a controlling vote and the governing documents do not provide an effective mechanism for resolving disagreements. A freeze-out occurs when one or more owners use their control to marginalize or effectively push another owner out, even though the excluded owner continues to hold an ownership interest in the company. Sometimes business owners violate their fiduciary duty to act in good faith by self-dealing or otherwise using their position to obtain an unfair advantage at the expense of the company or other owners. New Jersey courts have significant equitable authority to fashion remedies tailored to the nature of the dispute, the type of business entity, the parties’ governing agreements, and the particular harm involved. Keep reading to learn about potential remedies and how carefully crafted operating agreements (for LLCs) and shareholder agreements (for corporations) mitigate these risks.