Your Easy Guide To Commercial Litigation: Steps To Follow Before The Trial
Business disputes and differences are commonplace. They are almost unavoidable, especially in dealings wherein both parties are finding it difficult to agree to terms that are equally amicable for both.
In the event that a business litigation attorney is needed to mediate to ensure a fair resolution that’s as close to a win-win as possible, have a look at this guide on commercial litigation.
Commercial Litigation Defined
Here is a legal process that envelopes a variety of business disputes (whether joint or conglomerate), breaches of contracts and contract cases, business torts, issues amongst shareholders, etc.
In an over-simplified nutshell, a commercial litigation, also referred to as a business litigation, transpires when the business cases and/or sides of the argument are presented in a court of law. And the latter intervenes to come up with a lawful and objective decision so that the issue is settled in the best, and most suitable approach possible.
5 Main Steps In A Business Litigation Procedure
- Pre-litigation Counselling
This is more of a pre-recourse before giving the green light for the preliminary discussions, claims, and so on, which are to ensue. Pre-litigation counselling takes place with your representative giving a full view of the result-possibilities of filing your claim.
The pros, cons, ramifications, methods of compliance to undertake in order not to be undertowed by technicalities, strategies, etc. Think of it as a briefing about the legalities of the matter, and what you can expect regarding the proceedings.
- Preliminary Discussions
After hiring a commercial litigation lawyer to advise you about the proceedings that are to develop hereafter, the first step frequently has to do with devising a letter to be sent to the defendant (the individual and/or company being “sued”).
The letter is to contain detailed information about your claim, the terms of the same claim, and the timeline in which they are expected to send out their reply. The purpose of the letter is so that you and the defendant can have mediated preliminary discussions about the claim. These discussions are to transpire to avoid escalating the issue to a litigation.
Besides escalation, another point of the discussions are for them to stand as proof that you have made reasonable efforts to properly give the defendant time and the opportunity to make amends. If, after these efforts, they continue to disagree, then we move on to step number 2.
- Case Commencement & Case Management Conference
The actual commencement of the case begins here. A court office will release a claim form within the first 4 months of filing. Afterwards, you are expected to complete it (including facts and details of the claim) within a strict period of 2 weeks.
You should also note that counterclaims may be put into action against you as well. Whether or not the defendant has a strong counterclaim, it’s usually deemed as a scheme to force and/or pressure you to let the case go, and halt from pursuing it.
However, this should not deter you. All the more if your claim is backed substantially (and is being aligned with constant guidance of your lawyer).
The next step will see the court inquiring for a “case management conference”. Relevant documents, reports, eye-witness accounts, evidence, and other information that will support your claim are to be disclosed and reviewed. And if the court rules that these are sufficient to move the case forward, you can head onto preparing for the trial.
