Commercial Dispute Resolution Law

All businesses will at some stage in their cycle be involved in disputes. This will range from routine, day to day issues, to substantial problems that threaten the survival of a business.

We are highly experienced in a wide range of general commercial litigation and our specialist areas include:

• Breach of confidence claims
• Commercial agency disputes
• Commercial fraud
• Engineering disputes
• Contract disputes
• Corporate and shareholder disputes
• Directors’ duties
• Injunctions
• Insolvency disputes
• Intellectual property
• Partnership and LLP disputes
• Professional negligence

Our clients span both the private and public sectors.

If you have a small commercial dispute claim, this may be dealt with by the Small Claims Track.

Usually, claims up to £10,000 will be allocated to the Small Claims Track – which is designed to be simpler and quicker than other claims tracks. This makes the court process easier for individuals to navigate and prepare their claims for trial without legal representation.

Take a look at our explainer video to learn more:

Our team of litigation lawyers are also able to act on behalf of UK clients dealing with business disputes with an international element or global clients requiring UK law advice. We are part of the Marcalliance global network of international lawyers, which connects us to legal experts around the world who specialise in dispute resolution.

Contracts are the foundations for any business relationship, however, sometimes those foundations are not as sound as originally thought or perhaps mean different things to different parties. Our team of experienced dispute resolution lawyers are able to advise you on your contract, its terms, how the terms apply to your situation and how to resolve your contractual dispute with the other parties.

We advise on a whole range of business to business contracts from supply of goods/services, franchise agreements, research and development agreements, manufacturing agreements, consultancy agreements, joint venture/collaboration agreements and much more.

We can provide advice and assistance from the outset of any dispute where our clear, comprehensive and practical advice can resolve the issue immediately through to negotiating multi-party and multi-layered settlements or running complex trials.

Our team are experienced negotiators and will help you build a case and a strategy to meet your goals, from pursuing alternative dispute resolution options to putting together commercial proposals and settlement options to taking your case through to trial.

Corporate management involves trust and good relations between not only the directors but their shareholders as well. When this trust and confidence breaks down the resulting corporate disputes can be highly complex and delicate affairs. Our team of specialist dispute resolution lawyers are able to navigate these issues and provide you with the advice you need to resolve these complex disputes.

Every business and company is different and we endeavour to work with you to understand your organisation, your dispute and your goals. Every client is valued and appreciated and we offer a full range of advice to ensure your needs are met.

We regularly advise:

• directors on their duties, responsibilities and liabilities to their companies
• companies on what they can expect from their directors
• the boards of small companies where the individual directors are at odds
• minority and majority shareholders on their rights
• derivative claims
• shareholders on unfair prejudice claims.

Companies are no longer a one size operation and can range from complex structures and relationships to sole director/shareholder businesses. Our team of experienced specialist lawyers provide advice on every aspect of corporate disputes from the smallest issue to multi-faceted disputes.

Our specialist team can help you protect your brand and intellectual property (IP). Our IP services cover infringement cases including:

• trademarks
• passing off
• copyright
• design rights
• database rights
• domain name disputes.

We will identify your intellectual property rights, protect them, enforce them, or even defend them should that be necessary.

We advise on a whole range of IP disputes, ranging from the unauthorised use of confidential information to enforcing and defending the validity of registered trademarks, design rights and patents. But it’s not just about bringing and defending proceedings. We also provide early advice on infringement risk and validity assessments of registered IP rights.

We can help you with strategies to avoid disputes escalating and seek, where in your interest, to resolve disputes as quickly and inexpensively as possible by whatever means available including, where appropriate, alternative dispute resolution methods.

Disputes between partners and members of LLPs can be complex and highly sensitive affairs. We are well respected for our expertise in these difficult situations.

We regularly advise both remaining and departing partners of a variety of businesses including professional partnerships and LLPs. It is not unusual for clients to seek prompt and confidential solutions outside the litigation arena and we can provide for this too.

We use mediation to achieve fast and cost-effective resolutions and, where possible, arbitration to resolve more difficult disputes privately. However, when court action is required, we will act decisively to protect your interests.

Recent cases have included partnership and LLP disputes involving solicitors, estate agents, healthcare partnerships, residential care and construction.

We regularly act for insolvency practitioners from multi-national finance firms to smaller practices and sole practitioners.

Our insolvency lawyers have an in-depth understanding of the types of issues insolvency practitioners face and the need for commerciality in their dealings.

We regularly act for insolvency practitioners in the sale and recovery of assets, book debt collections, claims against directors of insolvent companies and third party claims regarding antecedent transactions and the sale of businesses and assets.

In appropriate circumstances, we can also offer flexible funding arrangements including conditional fee agreements.

For more information take a look at the services we provide for Insolvency Practitioners.

Resolving disputes through the court process is expensive, time-consuming and relatively inflexible in its process and remedies. For these reasons, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has become increasingly popular. The courts often require businesses to show that they have considered ADR before allowing the court process to continue.

We have experience of all forms of ADR. We act for clients involved in:

• arbitrations
• negotiations
• expert determination
• mediation.

When industry-specific dispute resolution is used correctly, the above methods can help retain business relationships, deal with peripheral but important non-monetary issues and provide a binding, enforceable agreement.

Our specialist property and land dispute team advise a broad range of clients including companies, charities, schools, NHS trusts, housing associations, lettings agents and individuals in relation to all aspects of property-related disputes.

The team specialises in complex and multi-faceted cases and can advise on many areas including:

• Property covenants, easements, boundaries, and trespass
• Landlord and tenant disputes (commercial and residential)
• Possession proceedings and eviction
• Chancel repair liability claims
• Condition of property and dilapidation claims
• Arrears of rent and service charge recovery disputes
• Developer disputes

Find out more on our Property and Land Dispute support.

Yes. In most cases it will be appropriate to follow the relevant pre-action protocol for your dispute. This will usually involve writing a letter to the other party setting out the details of your claim in full and giving them a reasonable time to pay the monies due or comply with any other remedies you may be seeking. We can prepare and send a letter of claim on your behalf and will discuss with you any other requirements of the pre-action protocol as necessary.

In order to assist you, whether it be preparing a letter of claim (or responding to one), or if we come on the record for you after proceedings have been issued, we will first need to meet with you (either in person or virtually) to take full details of the claim from you, including all of the relevant background information. We will also need to see any documents that you have which relate to the issues in dispute. The more you are able to provide to us at the outset of our instruction, the quicker we will be able to advise you fully and prepare any documents on your behalf.

The lifespan of a claim varies depending on the type of claim being brought and where you are in the proceedings. If no court proceedings have yet been issued, then you will most likely need to comply with the relevant pre-action protocol before any proceedings are issued. If a claim is ultimately issued, then a timetable will be set by the court at an early stage in the proceedings (after the parties have completed their statements of case and case management forms). Litigation proceedings can be lengthy, with straightforward cases often taking between 18 months and 2 years to come to trial. However, a claim may be settled at any time in the proceedings.

Yes. It is often in the interests of all parties to try and settle disputes without the need to issue any court proceedings. If proceedings are issued, the court will allow the parties a stay in the proceedings to enter into settlement negotiations which can take a number of forms, including mediation. We will discuss settlement options with you at the earliest opportunity and advise you on making any offers of settlement.

Yes. If you are a defendant in a claim but you believe that the claimant in fact owes you money then you can make a counterclaim against the claimant at the same time as you file your defence. The counterclaim will form part of the defence document and there is no need to bring a separate claim against the claimant. There is a court fee for making a counterclaim and this will be discussed with you at the relevant time.

If you are bringing or defending a claim then you will most likely have to provide a witness statement to support your claim/defence. Anyone who provides a witness statement in litigation proceedings will need to attend court to be cross examined on their evidence, except in certain circumstances, by court order or by agreement between the parties.

In most cases you can discontinue a claim if you decide you no longer wish to pursue it (and you are the claimant). However, if you discontinue a claim then you will be required to pay the costs of the defendant(s).

All parties to litigation have a right to request permission to appeal at the conclusion of the trial. However, permission is only likely to be granted in limited circumstances and we will discuss this with you at the relevant time.

Legal costs in litigation can be expensive. The total cost to you will depend on many factors including, but not limited to, the value of the claim, the complexity of the claim and whether expert evidence is required. If you are successful in your claim/defence then the general rule is that the other party will be ordered to pay a portion of your legal costs (except in Small Claims proceedings). However, the amount of costs you will recover are determined by the court and often do not cover everything that you have paid out. In Fast and Intermediate Track claims, the amount of costs a party can recover is far more limited than costs in Multi Track claims. If you lose at trial then the court is likely to order you to pay the costs of the winning party.

If the court orders the other party to pay you a sum of money then there will be a time limit for that party to comply, usually 14 days. If the other party does not make the required payment by the deadline then there are a number of enforcement options which you can take to recover the sums owed to you. If you are in this position please contact our debt recovery team for more information on your options.

We are not able to offer legal aid funding for commercial disputes.

We are not able to offer legal services for commercial disputes on a ‘no win no fee’ basis.

At the outset of a new matter we will provide you with a fee estimate for our services (which includes any immediate disbursements you may incur) and we will ask you to make a payment on account of these costs/disbursements being incurred. As your matter progresses we may request further funds on account as necessary and appropriate but we will discuss this with you at the relevant time.