Avoiding commercial disputes
Stress and sleepless nights - Commercial disputes and how to avoid them
The majority of commercial disputes relate to contracts - from customer complaints to serious contractual arguments.
They can happen to any business, whatever the size, but you can take steps to reduce the risks:-
- Review your contract terms and warranties
- Do not rely on verbal agreements
- Clarify vague or ambiguous terms or agreements before undertaking contractual work
- Keep written notes of important meetings
- Take advice from experts
Not all disputes can be avoided, no matter how careful you are.
Have a dispute procedure that everyone knows about which can be activated when a problem arises:
- Nominate someone to be responsible for resolving disputes
- Make sure everyone knows the procedure
- Do not delay
- Collect evidence as soon as possible
- Take independent objective advice
Having a proper procedure should enable issues to be identified at an early stage which can then be resolved.
Delay in responding to a complaint and failure to deal adequately with a dispute in its early stages can make a problem very much worse and potentially more expensive.
At the very least disputes are distractions from the primary purpose of the business. At worst they can have a serious effect on business performance. They can be expensive and time consuming leading to unnecessary stress for all concerned.
Take early legal advice from lawyers experienced in dispute resolution. Let us work with you to try and resolve disputes quickly and efficiently letting you get on with running your business.
If you want frank and honest advice on how we can help in a particular case, or more generally by advising on contractual terms; setting up an internal dispute procedure or in any other way please contact Andrew Strong.
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