Dispute resolution covers a range of methods of avoiding or resolving legal disputes. These can involve a breach of contract, whether in writing or purely oral, a tort or civil wrong, or a breach of statutory duty such as many employment and insolvency-related disputes . Sometimes all can arise in the same case.

Contract disputes can for example arise from the purchase of a car, the failure of a book publishing agreement, or the sale of a cottage or a substantial manufacturing company. Civil wrongs include for example cases of breach of trust, professional negligence and infringement of property and intellectual property rights and defamation, as well as road accident and other personal injury claims.

Employment disputes range from statutory unfair dismissal claims in which we normally represent the employer, through to disputes about the enforcement of non-competition clauses in executives’ or directors’ contracts. Insolvency matters can involve directors’ statutory duties and liabilities, as well as wider issues concerning shareholders’ funds, personal guarantees, Retention of Title and other contractual issues.

Increasingly we regard our role as helping clients avoid or at least minimise involvement in disputes, and measure our success for our clients as much in terms of problems avoided or effectively negotiated away, as in numbers of victories in Court. Much of the work of our Company and Commercial lawyers is aimed at reducing the risk and ambit of disputes within a business relationship by agreeing and clearly documenting the respective parties’ responsibilities.

If you are however involved or anticipate being involved in a dispute we can analyse the situation, provide a risk assessment, advise you on your position and work with you on the best way forward. This can range from a conciliatory and low-key approach to a much more robust and aggressive stance if that is what the situation and your best interests demand. We can discuss a possible range of funding arrangements, including in appropriate cases, Conditional Fee (“ no win-no fee”) agreements.

Where appropriate we will not hold back in advising you that your legal position is weak and helping you to get out quickly and cost effectively. We recognise that an unnecessarily prolonged dispute can be counter-productive, not only in excessive legal costs, but also in terms of wasted time and damage to business and personal reputations and relationships.

In more positive cases we will advise you on the best ways in which to advance your case. This can range from straightforward negotiations with your opponent or their lawyers, through to more formal Mediation using an independent Chairman to help the parties to reach their own privately negotiated settlement without the involvement of the public Courts. In some cases the right or the only way forward is to become involved in Court or Arbitration or other Tribunal proceedings.

Court proceedings can involve an urgent injunction in substantial and urgent matters - for example to compel compliance with a major contract or to stop the misuse of confidential information, the publication of a libel, the dissipation of defrauded funds or the export of stolen assets.

All members of our team have a wealth of experience in all these methods of dispute resolution.

Where necessary we instruct other expert professionals on your behalf to bring in their particular specialist knowledge and expertise for example in disputes involving detailed forensic accounting, surveying or other technical issues. In more substantial cases and especially those likely to involve Court appearances we will generally instruct appropriate specialist Counsel to represent you in the proceedings whether being heard in the local Courts or Tribunals or in the High Court or other Courts in London.