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Business Dispute Resolution

Dealing with an ongoing dispute can take your time and focus away from what really matters – running your business. Our experienced dispute resolution team are on hand to offer practical advice and support.

If you have found yourself embroiled in a dispute involving your business, then you may be looking to seek legal advice to learn how best to tackle the situation without causing any avoidable further stress or harm to your business. Disagreements and problems do unfortunately arise from time to time, but with the right advice and guidance, they can be mitigated.

Laura-Pauline Adcock-Jones
Andrew Breckenridge
Katie Latham
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Our clients range from small businesses to larger corporations, and we can help you to overcome numerous different challenges that your business may be facing during a daunting and stressful time, allowing you to move on and focus on what matters to you most.

How can we help you?

We understand that busy business owners need clear, considered advice to help them navigate a business dispute. Whether you have an issue with , a commercial or contract dispute, debt recovery or need support with a professional negligence claim, we are here to help you take the next step forward to finding a resolution.

Our legal experts can advise you of the best route forward, act on your behalf or take the dispute all the way through to court proceedings in the County Court, High Court and Court of Appeal if required. Please contact us for more information.

Commercial Disputes

Commercial disputes could be anything from a breach of contract to partnership disputes or shareholders and directors falling out. We can advise you all types of commercial dispute and our team will do so with as little disruption as possible, in a way that’s most cost effective for your business.

Breach of Contract

A contract dispute can have a significant impact on your business. Whether it’s a contract with an employee, supplier, landlord or customer – issues over contract breaches can impact your relationships and cause financial damage.

Legally binding contracts can be written or agreed verbally and if one party fails to meet their obligations or breaches any of the terms within the contract then a claim could be made.

It is vital that your contracts are drawn up correctly and clearly to avoid any disputes. Our team of business lawyers can help to resolve issues around a breach of contract and advise you on how best to avoid any future claims by revisiting your procedures and policies.

Commercial Landlord & Tenant Disputes

The relationship between a commercial landlord and business tenant is important to get right. Both parties have strict obligations and terms within the tenancy agreement that must be fully understood and adhered to.

Commercial property disputes can be caused by a number of factors. Some common scenarios include; a tenant falling into rent arrears, disputes overrates or service charges, dilapidation issues or breaches of contract, including notice periods and rent renewals.

Whether you are a commercial landlord or a commercial tenant, we can help advise you on the best way to manage your dispute and help you to find a constructive way forward.

Business Debt Collection

Cash flow is crucial to get right, especially in small to medium sized businesses. A customer failing to pay their bills on time can cause you serious financial strain. There are numerous ways to tackle disputes over monies owed, and with stringent legal advice you can start to relax, knowing that a positive outcome will be reached.

If you are in a situation where your business is owed money, or where a customer or supplier is claiming that you owe them money, we can be instructed to fight your corner. Whether this is through some initial advice, through well-written letters on your behalf or by representing you in court.

Don’t let mountains of debt give you sleepless nights. Please contact us today to find a way forward.

Insolvency Help

Our specialist team of insolvency lawyers work with businesses and insolvency practitioners of many different shapes and sizes, covering the full range of services that you may require when facing insolvency, either yourself or in another party.

We understand that this is an incredibly daunting time for business owners, and we pride ourselves on explaining every step in a clear and calm manner to keep you informed.

Whether you are facing a winding up petition, creditor pressures, are restructuring the business or need assistance with the numerous different applications involved in the insolvency procedure, we are here to help.

Professional Negligence

Your business will rely heavily on the advice taken from professionals. This might be your accountant, solicitor or a financial advisor, whom you have trusted to provide the correct advice. If your business has suffered due to poor professional advice, then you may wish to seek compensation.

To make a successful claim, you must be able to demonstrate that you were owed a duty of care by the professional, that a breach of duty of care was made and that the breach caused a loss.

Equally, if you are a professional who is facing a claim being made against you, then our lawyers can help to defend this. Surveyors, architects, accountants and many other professional service providers find themselves facing a claim, which is defendable with the right legal guidance.

Court Procedures

Most businesses aim to settle their disputes outside of court to avoid lengthy waiting times, further costs and stress. However, in some cases attempts to reach resolution in a peaceful manner are impossible.

There are four different tracks within the court system in the UK and Wales. Small claims, fast-track, intermediate track and multi-track. Our lawyers will be able to discuss in more detail which track your claim will fall under and what the process entails.

It is important to be aware of the strict time limits involved in taking claims to court. These will differ depending on the type of dispute and which track your claim takes.

Mediation

Mediation is a very useful tool for resolving disputes outside of court. It’s becoming increasingly popular as an alternative dispute resolution tactic because it can help to reduce costs and make the process quicker and more dignified. Mediation could also help re-build relationships that might not be salvaged if the matter became litigious in a court room setting.

Mediation can work in various different ways, depending on the type of dispute and how willing both parties are to reach a resolution. If you have a business dispute rumbling and think that mediation could work for you, then please get in touch today.

Frequently Asked Questions

The short answer is as soon as possible. The earlier you seek legal advice, the better armed you will be to tackle the dispute without jeopardising your position or your business. Often disputes will rumble away and this can impact on your mental health or start to impact your finances. If you start to feel uncomfortable or that the dispute has been ongoing for some time without any progress, then contact a solicitor who specialises in business dispute resolution.

Oral contracts can be legally enforceable – there does not have to be a signature or paper trail, however a written contract which clearly sets out the terms is much more likely to have a favourable outcome when in dispute as it can be used for evidential purposes. A court may be prepared to consider oral or ‘handshake’ agreements, but these should ideally not be how you run your business.

Act quickly! There are strict time limits for submitting responses and sending back response forms. Best practice is to acknowledge receipt and book an appointment with a Solicitor. Do not bury your head in the sand or delay getting your paperwork in order.

There are a few different ways to approach this. Firstly, check the terms of your lease and make sure that you are following the correct procedures. You may consider forfeiting the lease or if you want to keep your business tenant in place, you could open discussions about payment plans, give warnings or instruct a Solicitor to assist if communication is not going well.

Examine the terms of your agreement or contracts. If a fundamental breach has occurred, then it is advisable to seek urgent legal advice so that the matter can be resolved promptly. If the breach is not fundamental, then you could attempt to discuss the problems calmly with your contractor or supplier in the first instance to see if you can reach an understanding.

Businesses should periodically review their terms and conditions to ensure compliance with current consumer protection laws. Recent changes, including updates to the Consumer Rights Act and new regulations surrounding digital content and services, require careful consideration. Although the Consumer Rights Act came into full force in October 2015, ongoing legislative changes may impact your business, particularly with regard to digital content, data protection, and unfair terms. Regular reviews with a legal professional are recommended.

A contract does not need to be in writing to be legally binding. A contract may be made orally or partly orally and partly in writing. The difficulty comes when there is a dispute over what terms were agreed if the contract was made orally. In this case much will depend on the strength of witness evidence.

No. Court should be a last resort. Civil proceedings are covered by the Civil Procedure Rules which encourage parties to exchange information and communicate with each other to try to avoid disputes going to court. Even if proceedings are issued, parties are still encouraged to seek to negotiate settlement. Only between 3 and 3.5% of claims issued actually go to trial.

Typically, small claim hearings for which mediation is in effect compulsory, will take a year to reach a final hearing after the claim was originally made.

Other than for “small claims” contested cases typically take 2 years to reach trial.

You should receive a response pack with the claim. You have 14 days to respond. You should seek advice as soon as possible. You can:

  • do nothing, in which case it is likely the claimant can apply for Judgment in Default against you
  • pay the amount of the claim (in full or part)
  • admit the claim and ask for more time to pay (in full or part); and/or
  • dispute (defend) the claim (in full or part)

If the claim is defended, further information is usually provided by each of the parties, after which the case is allocated by a judge to one of three case management tracks (small claims track, fast track, intermediate or multi track).

This is a question of fact, to be decided by reference to the particular circumstances of each case. It is usually presumed that the parties did have such intention. The onus of proving that there was no intention is on the party who asserts that no legal effect was intended and that onus is a heavy one.

Capacity, in this context, concerns a party’s ability to enter into an agreement. A court may refuse to give effect to a contract if one of the parties does not have capacity. Examples are:

  • bankrupts – have limited capacity to contract as a bankrupt’s property vests in the trustee in bankruptcy
  • minors – for most contracts the age of majority is 18 years
  • persons of unsound mind – a person can plead their own unsound mind to avoid a contract if it can be shown that the contracting party knew of that insanity
  • drunkards – the courts consider that drunkenness may be a defence to an action in contract, in a similar way to cases concerning unsoundness of mind

 

Our Fees

Once we have a full understanding of the issue you are facing, we will provide an estimate of costs. Our aim is to support you by offering you advice on your commercial dispute at a cost-effective price.

Contact our Solicitors in Colchester or Clacton

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