Dispute Resolution

Are you looking for an experienced team of business dispute lawyers to react quickly to protect your best interests in the face of a looming business dispute?

Do you want to talk to experienced lawyers offering commercial litigation advice on business disputes? We look at all options for compromising a dispute before it becomes a formal process and actually settle the bulk of our cases through negotiation. It is the strategy for resolution of commercial disputes that sets up the dialogue between the parties which is often the key to success.

If you are faced with a formal business dispute; in Godalming, Dorking, Surrey, London, South of England, or overseas, you can be assured that your litigation will be handled by experienced business dispute lawyers charged at a highly competitive hourly rate, lower than most firms based in London.

Business disputes team

Our commercial disputes team has in-depth experience of the complete range of formal processes for resolving business disputes through the courts, including the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal, the Commercial Court, the Technology and Construction Court, the Companies Court, other divisions of the High Court, the County Court, Leasehold Valuation Tribunals and VAT Tribunals, as well as through international and domestic arbitration. Our Commercial Dispute Team is also expert in advising on and implementing alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") procedures, including mediation, adjudication, mini-trials and expert fact-finding. ADR procedures, in particular mediation, are now involved in the settlement of many business dispute cases and we have a track record of success in this area.

Business dispute process overview

At the outset of any business dispute, we investigate and establish the facts, set out the applicable law, comment on the legal issues and advise you on the merits of any commercial or business lawsuit. We then define with you the commercial context, in order to identify and narrow the issues and risks involved in bringing/contesting a claim. We then devise with our clients a strategy for the dispute, which will take into account the projected litigation costs involved, the time scale, the terms on which any resolution should be sought and a methodology for achieving this.

Business dispute funding options

We are experienced in advising on the litigation funding options now available to mitigate or neutralise the cost and risk of any commercial litigation including "After The Event" insurance to cover the risk of having to pay the costs of the other side, Conditional Fee agreements providing for "no win, no cost" to you and third party funding for appropriate cases.

The types of business disputes and commercial litigation handled by our lawyers are broad-ranging but include the following:

Construction and engineering disputes

We will act on behalf of employers, sponsors, contractors, subcontractors and professionals in connection with civil engineering and infrastructure projects, commercial and residential developments.

Commercial contract disputes

We act for businesses supplying of goods and/or services or for those purchasing them. We are also experienced in handling business disputes arising in relation to distribution and other commercial agreements.

Copyright, trade mark and passing off disputes

Commercial disputes that we have handled recently include;
(1) action against the publishers of a trade magazine for advertising a product that infringed our client's trademark
(2) advising in relation to garden products manufactured in China that were passed off as those of our client.

Debt collection

We operate a process-driven service for selected clients.

Defamation

With growing usage of the Internet, defamatory comments relating to businesses or persons are being published with increasing frequency on this media. Members of our team have experience of securing the removal of such comments and are generally experienced in advising on the issues arising in relation to defamation and reputation management.

Fraud

If a fraud is suspected, we will discuss with you at the outset a strategy for handling this so that the whole investigation process is properly and sensitively managed. We are experienced in investigating the facts and in advising on the legal implications and on steps that can be taken forensically to follow a trail of information and to track down assets if a commercial loss has been suffered.

Insolvency

We act on behalf of liquidators, companies, directors or creditors involved in administration or winding up proceedings.

Pensions-related disputes

We act on behalf of trustees to pension funds.

Property litigation

We act for both commercial and residential landlords and tenants as well as for individuals.

Our experience of property dispute cases includes:

• Landlord and Tenant disputes whether rent reviews, lease renewals, dilapidations, breach of covenants, possession claims, break clauses, service charge disputes, claims against former tenants and guarantors.

• Negligence of property professionals and/or acting for insurers on claims.

Professional negligence

We act for claimants against a wide range of professionals including surveyors, architects, solicitors, valuers, accountants and auditors, financial advisers and Information Technology professionals.

Shareholder and partnership disputes

Unfortunately, the recent economic circumstances have led to an upturn of shareholder disputes and disputes between partners, which our team of experience dispute resolution lawyers are adept at resolving.