Commercial Disputes

Commercial disputes are any disputes involving a business, or another corporate entity, which involve money or other assets. They can involve disputes between individuals and businesses, as well as disputes between more than one business.

When you are involved in a commercial dispute, it is important that you seek legal advice from solicitors who understand the importance of the case to you or your business, and what it is you are hoping ultimately to achieve.

In some cases, we understand that you will wish to preserve your business relationships with your opponent and so the claim must be handled sensitively as well as robustly. In this type of case, you way well wish to opt for mediation of your dispute, rather than involving the court.

Commercial Litigation

Commercial litigation is a generic term covering any disputes which involve a business or other corporate entity, such as a partnership, a charity, a local authority or council, or a sole trader.

Disputes can arise for any number of reasons, involving breaches of one party’s obligations to another under a commercial agreement, non-payment of fees, or disputes involving jointly owned assets.

We are a niche litigation firm and so we have many decades of experience assisting clients with their commercial disputes.

Contract Disputes

Contractual disputes are a specific type of commercial litigation. Under a contract, one party will promise to provide another party with goods or services, typically in return for the payment of a monetary sum.

Disputes can arise for many reasons including:

• If the goods supplied under the contract are faulty or do not arrive;
• If the services supplied under the contract are not up to standard; and
• If one party fails to pay the other the money they are supposed to pay.

There are special protections for parties to contracts who are seen as consumers under the law, under various Acts of Parliament. It is important that these are considered at an early stage if you are involved in a contract dispute.

Contract disputes are generally becoming more widespread, because of the increase in contracts being concluded over the internet.

Partnership Disputes

Partnerships are a specific type of corporate body, which are governed by the Partnership Act 1890. Disputes between partners can be very damaging if they are not handled sensitively.

We can help partners who are in dispute about:

• Their entitlement to a share of the profits of a partnership;
• Breach of the partnership agreement by one of the partners;
• Retirement of a partner; and
• The termination of a partnership agreement.

Having run our own business as a partnership for many years, now in the form of an LLP, we are very well placed to give advice to partners who find themselves in dispute.

Debt Recovery

Carrying a high level of debt can be crippling to a business and speedy cost-effective recovery of sums outstanding can be the difference between your business prospering or failing.

We have low fixed-fee solutions for clients who are struggling to get debtors to pay their bills. We have recovered large sums of money for our clients over the years, who use our debt recovery package as part of their own credit control procedures.

Insolvency

Corporate insolvency can be an inevitable consequence for some businesses. We can help with:

• negotiations with creditors
• restructuring of your corporate finance;
• challenging insolvency applications by creditors; and
• pursuing your company’s corporate debtors by way of insolvency proceedings.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property can be an incredibly valuable business asset. When your rights are infringed, the losses can be high. We can assist with a wide range of intellectual property disputes including:

• breaches of copyright;
• claims relating to misuse of confidential information;
• breaches of patents; and
• trademark disputes.

To discuss any dispute of a commercial nature on a no obligation basis, contact us today.