Disputes. Conflicts. Disagreements. They happen and are often an inevitable part of doing business. Our dispute resolution service can help you avoid, manage and resolve disputes effectively.
If a dispute arises, litigation does not need to be inevitable. Litigation can be costly, time consuming and unpredictable and the English courts take the view that it should be a last resort. You will be expected to make genuine attempts to resolve your dispute without recourse to the courts.
The parties should if possible conduct genuine and reasonable negotiations with a view to settling the claim. The parties should also consider other alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Parties to a dispute are encouraged by the courts to consider whether some form of ADR would be more suitable than litigation. Whilst the parties can choose whatever form of ADR they consider to be appropriate, the more common options include:
- Arbitration – a confidential form of dispute resolution where one or more arbitrators decide a case rather than a court appointed judge.
- Mediation – this is a facilitated negotiation assisted by an independent third party mediator appointed by the parties.
- Early neutral evaluation by an independent third party, who advises on the merits of each party’s position.
- Expert determination – in which an independent expert is appointed to resolve the matter by producing a legally binding decision.
- Other forms of discussion and negotiation.
Early resolution can often be the best approach.
If litigation is pursued (despite trying ADR or where your case is not suited to ADR), it will often involve hard work, commitment, careful preparation and a well-conceived strategy.
Our dispute resolution service can advise and support you with both ADR and litigation and help deliver successful outcomes. For example, we recently negotiated and mediated on behalf of a client to avoid a £300K contract claim against them by a supplier and, in another case, resolved a claim against a supplier for 85% of claim value and costs saving significant management time and costs. Both cases were considered by our clients as outstanding outcomes in the circumstances.