You may be involved a commercial litigation when running your businesses. It may be with:

• Customers and suppliers
• Intel-lecture properties
• Business partners
• Property disputes
• Insolvency disputes

The area of law being litigated is specialised due to the nature of the parties, the businesses involved, it is often more expensive than non-commercial litigation due to more special steps of the litigation process such as the costs of discovery and the use of professional experts.

It brings a lot of the pressure, time consuming, and cost to your business. So, the earlier your businesses seek  legal help, the better your businesses will be even if your business situation has not yet become a legal dispute. 

Similar to other litigation, we encourage to resolve your commercial disputes without going to court to save money and time, usually by dispute resolution methods such as negotiation or mediation.

Negotiation

In negotiation, the involved parties will discuss to explore whether they can reach a resolution. This process is often conducted by the solicitors of each party. 

It’s not always that the involved parties can negotiate to reach an outcome, the process may bring a better feeling about resolving the dispute without having to go to court.

Negotiation is usually the most saving time and money way to resolve a legal dispute.

In case the parties cannot feel comfortable with negotiation, they may choose to mediate the issue.

Mediation

With mediation, the involved parties agree to use a mediator, an independent third party, to guide them through the process. The parties also have their solicitors with them during the mediation.

In a mediation, all parties and the mediator will meet to discuss the dispute and seek the resolution. If necessary, each party can meet with the mediator separately to discuss further.

Keep in mind that the mediators only guide the resolving process, they will not give their opinions about how to fix the dispute and have no power to make orders on the involved parties. However, the parties will be more confidential and have more control over the process. This is always less stressful than going to court.

The time for a mediation will depend on the complexity of the disputes. It may be a half day, a day, or several days.

If the parties can agree, their solicitors may draw up a settlement document at the mediation which can be signed by the parties.

Going to Court

If the involved parties can not reach a resolve by negotiation and mediation, a court will be asked to resolve their dispute.  

Firstly, a court will require the involved parties to participate in a form of dispute. resolution, this process is similar to mediation and  with help from an independent mediator and the parties are encouraged to reach an resolution.

In case of no resolution, court will require involved parties to prepare for trial.

At the trial, court will consider many aspects related to dispute such as: 

• Evidences and witnesses from parties
• Analysis of documents
• Listens to the parties through their lawyers
• Considers related law

Finally, the court will make orders which are legally binding on the parties.

Going to court often take months or even years, and more expensive depending on the complexity of the dispute.