Commercial Dispute Resolution

If you should have a civil dispute with an individual or another business, we will advise you on the best way of resolving it, to minimise the impact on your business.

Dispute resolution is the modern name given to civil litigation and refers to civil legal disputes between people and/or companies. It also states more clearly what we and most clients are seeking to achieve, namely settling disputes that arise from time to time.

Businesses want their disputes resolved as quickly as possible and without unnecessary time consuming meetings or expense. That is the way we approach our matters and we try to engage constructively with our opponents, where possible.

We can advise you regarding your dispute. Our aim is to advise you of the merits of your claim at the earliest possible point so that you can make an informed decision on how to proceed.

If for any reason your dispute is very specialist or is outside the scope of what we do, we can point you in the direction of someone more suitable to represent you.

Please note that we do not undertake personal injury, clinical negligence, or criminal courts work, but can recommend other lawyers if needed.

Company Disputes

Most businesses, but particularly smaller ones, are busy concentrating on trying to keep afloat and a dispute between the owners can be, at best, a distraction and, at worst, devastating to the fortunes of the company.

When a problem does arise between the business owners, prompt action needs to be taken to either effect a quick settlement or to enable the owners to part company with least disruption to the business.

It is vital to have a professionally drawn up shareholders’ agreement in place because if there isn’t, it can get very difficult and expensive to litigate a solution.

Please contact us for more information either about company disputes, or having a shareholders’ agreement in place.

Court Claims for Employers

Legal disputes can be stressful, costly and time-consuming. We can advise you and if needed represent you in civil law disputes in the County or High Court.

This can cover a very wide range of types of claim. If we need to obtain specialist advice from Counsel, we will do so.

At the outset we will always advise you on whether the claim has reasonable prospects of success or if it is financially viable to pursue it.

The County Court operates a “small claims court” for money claims up to £10,000, in which it is usually not possible to recover your legal costs from the other side. This means that your legal costs will come from whatever compensation you recover.

We have particular expertise in acting for professional landlords in possession/ rent arrears proceedings, recovering debts and also for beneficiaries and personal representatives in situations where the dispositions made in a will are in dispute. We also can assist in business partnership and company disputes.

We can offer an initial fixed fee case assessment to guide you at the outset.

Please note that we do not undertake personal injury clinical negligence, or criminal courts work, but can recommend other lawyers if needed.

Debt Recovery

Are you owed money by a supplier or a customer? It is usually best to chase the bills as soon as they become overdue.

If payment is not forthcoming, we can advise on the most appropriate procedure to follow and can work effectively and efficiently to recover the monies due to you. If court proceedings do not produce a result we can advise on enforcement action, including issuing statutory demands to enforce a judgment or other methods.

Whilst our team can provide you with a fee estimate, you may wish to review our generic pricing information.

Find out more about Cost Information

Mediation & Arbitration for Employers

Litigation can be expensive and stressful and the courts can also usually only award compensation or grant an injunction.

However, in many cases the parties to the dispute want an explanation for what happened, or receive an apology.

Mediation with an independent, impartial third party can often help both parties settle their differences by minimising costs and, if settled at an early stage, can prevent the dispute worsening. We have experience of settling disputes by mediation.

Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution commonly used in commercial disputes. It is similar to court proceedings, but without the same formality. We can advise if this may be suitable for you.

Partnership Disputes

Disputes between business partners can be hugely disruptive, and lead to irreconcilable differences between the parties.

They can be hugely costly, particularly if there is no partnership agreement in place. Partnership disputes, like company disputes are best settled sooner rather than later and are often candidates for mediation.

We can advise you further on both partnership disputes and on drawing up a partnership agreement.