Why am I passionate about this?

After more than two decades of practice in the “corporate divorce” arena, I understand the challenges that arise from internal dissension within the management, operations, and ownership of a closely held business. Business is about relationships; relationships with customers, vendors, lenders, landlords, and often, relationships with business partners. Sometimes, business relationships stop being productive and start to impede business growth and success. That’s where I come in. I work with business owners to bring a successful resolution to disputes concerning the management and control of the business.


I wrote...

Life's Too Short for a Bad Business Partner

By William Piercy ,

Book cover of Life's Too Short for a Bad Business Partner

What is my book about?

Owning a business is hard enough; don't let a misaligned partner drag you down. If you're stuck in an unproductive…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal

William Piercy Why I love this book

Before Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin were titans of tech and venture capital, they were college friends, and this book tells the partially fictionalized origin story of Facebook and its founders. Like many business partnerships, Facebook started as a friendship. In page-turning fashion, the book tracks the progression, and later regression, of the relationship between Zuckerberg and Saverin from friends to business partners to bitter rivals.

This book is simultaneously an entertaining beach read and a cautionary tale for startup co-founders. 

By Ben Mezrich ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Accidental Billionaires as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestseller and inspiration for the Oscar-winning movie, The Social Network

Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg - an awkward maths prodigy and a painfully shy computer genius - were never going to fit in at elite, polished Harvard. Yet that all changed when master-hacker Mark crashed the university's entire computer system by creating a rateable database of female students. Narrowly escaping expulsion, the two misfits refocused the site into something less controversial - 'The Facebook' - and watched as it spread like wildfire across campuses around the country, and their popularity exploded in the process.

Yet amidst…


Book cover of How to Have Tough Conversations

William Piercy Why I love this book

This book is a practical guide to delivering news you’d rather not have to deliver. As someone who has avoided my share of difficult conversations that should have been had years ago, I very much appreciate the step-by-step framework this book provides.

With an emphasis on preparation, compassion, and follow-up, this book explains that delicate but productive conversations are rarely one-time events, but multiple, structured conversations. And while the book is for the person delivering the bad news, the authors are careful to explain that it's not about the person delivering the bad news, but the one receiving it, that matters if a difficult conversation is to be productive. This book is a must for anyone who regularly manages other people or has fraught business relationships.

By Amanda Hammett , Gene Hammett ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Have Tough Conversations as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In How to Have Tough Conversations, we cut straight to the chase-because, let's face it, you don't have time for fluff. This book is your ultimate resource for transforming the dreaded tough talks into opportunities for growth and success. Whether it's a conversation you've been avoiding or truths you've hesitated to address, here you'll find the keys to elevating those discussions and achieving the outcomes you need.


With a blend of humor and down-to-earth practicality, we make it easier than ever to navigate those tricky talks. Say goodbye to sweaty palms and hello to mastery in communication skills and conflict…


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Book cover of Gifts from a Challenging Childhood: Healing the Legacy of Childhood Trauma

Gifts from a Challenging Childhood by Jan Bergstrom,

Learn to understand and work with your childhood wounds. Do you feel like old wounds or trauma from your childhood keep showing up today? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with what to do about it and where to start? If so, this book will help you travel down a path…

Book cover of Main Street Millionaire

William Piercy Why I love this book

While not a book about maintaining or ending business relationships, this book provides valuable insights into creating them effectively. When buying and selling businesses, many people focus on price alone, creating a winner-takes-all dynamic between buyer and seller.

However, there are many ways to structure these transactions to create win-win scenarios. The same is true in crafting successful business partnerships. This book does a great job of highlighting those possibilities in a practical, readable format.

By Codie Sanchez ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Main Street Millionaire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

****THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER****

Rich people know a secret. In this book, former Wall Street investor Codie Sanchez pulls back the curtain.

Most people look for wealth in all the wrong places.. From dropshipping and startups to grinding for promotions, you might believe you have to trade your life to be one of the few who win. But the truly rich know these paths are paved with delusion and false promises.

In Main Street Millionaire, Codie Sanchez teaches you the path the wealthy really walk. Instead of risking it all with little chance of success, she shows you…


Book cover of A Tale of Two Owners

William Piercy Why I love this book

This book, written in a fable format, tells the story of the aging co-founders of a successful technology company. Although they’ve worked well together for decades, their goals become incompatible when one wishes to sell and the other wishes to bring on a family member as a partner and eventual successor.

This book offers an insightful guide to the financial and psychological challenges and opportunities associated with bringing productive closure to a business relationship.

By Patrick A. Ungashick ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Tale of Two Owners as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Tale of Two Owners is the fable of Al Beaman and Robert Gilmore, co-owners of a high successful IT service company. As is the case with so many business co-owners, they eventually realize their exit goals are incompatible. Al reaches a point where he wishes to sell the company for top dollar, while Robert not only does not want to sell, but desires to pass his ownership to his daughter Jessica. For the first time in their seventeen-year partnership, Al and Robert find themselves butting heads on the direction of their business. In the second part of this book,…


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Book cover of Gifts from a Challenging Childhood: Healing the Legacy of Childhood Trauma

Gifts from a Challenging Childhood by Jan Bergstrom,

Learn to understand and work with your childhood wounds. Do you feel like old wounds or trauma from your childhood keep showing up today? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with what to do about it and where to start? If so, this book will help you travel down a path…

Book cover of Necessary Endings

William Piercy Why I love this book

What I most enjoyed about this book is the core message that business relationships, even successful and productive ones, are not meant to last forever. There is a season for everything. Far too often, partners enter into business relationships in the same way they enter a marriage, thinking that it will or should last forever. But there is a reason that the ceremony and the vows associated with the consummation of a marriage are missing from the formation of a business relationship.

This book advocates for beginning with the end in mind. It also helps readers understand that sometimes, ripping the band-aid off and ensuring the short-term pain is the only way to heal and prosper.

By Henry Cloud ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Necessary Endings as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"If you're hesitant to pull the trigger when things obviously aren't working out, Henry Cloud's Necessary Endings may be the most important book you read all year." -Dave Ramsey, New York Times bestselling author of The Total Money Makeover "Cloud is a wise, experienced, and compassionate guide through [life's] turbulent passages." -Bob Buford, bestelling author of Halftime and Finishing Well; founder of the Leadership Network Henry Cloud, the bestselling author of Integrity and The One-Life Solution, offers this mindset-altering method for proactively correcting the bad and the broken in our businesses and our lives. Cloud challenges readers to achieve the…


Explore my book 😀

Life's Too Short for a Bad Business Partner

By William Piercy ,

Book cover of Life's Too Short for a Bad Business Partner

What is my book about?

Owning a business is hard enough; don't let a misaligned partner drag you down. If you're stuck in an unproductive business relationship, this book offers a practical roadmap to break free and pursue better opportunities. It meets you where you are, providing insights into key legal documents, strategic relationships, and effective communication strategies for navigating a difficult separation. Learn to negotiate from strength and confidently move forward. 

Authored by William Piercy, a seasoned attorney specializing in "corporate divorce" at Berman Fink Van Horn, PC, this book draws on his extensive experience helping entrepreneurs resolve business disputes. Discover actionable steps to end bad partnerships and build a more promising future for your business endeavors.

Book cover of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal
Book cover of How to Have Tough Conversations
Book cover of Main Street Millionaire

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