Of all the times when business collaborators have a falling out and threaten to sue.
Of all the times when business collaborators have a falling out and threaten to sue each other, the result is a trial in only a small percentage of those cases. At other times, the case comes to a resolution in a different way. Think about how many people get criminal charges and how less than 10% of them go to trial. At other times, the defendants plead guilty, or the court dismisses the charges when it becomes obvious that there is not enough legally valid evidence to lead to a conviction. Likewise, approximately half of all marriages end in divorce, but most of those divorces become final without a trial. Most couples are able to finalize their divorce in mediation, even if they must also draft a parenting plan for their minor children. The same applies to many other kinds of legal matters, including business disputes. For help finding a solution to your business dispute where you have a role in deciding the outcome, contact an Arizona business law attorney.
Litigation is the Most Expensive Form of Dispute Resolution
Bringing disputes before a judge in order to receive a fair decision is a right of individuals and businesses in the United States. In practice, though, civil lawsuits are a last resort when it comes to dispute resolution. Preparing for a trial is costly. You must go through the pretrial disclosure phase of providing all your evidence to the other party, requesting evidence from the other party, and then reviewing the other party’s evidence and deciding how to respond to it. Business law attorneys often charge flat fees for routine services such as incorporating a business or drafting an employment contract or business partnership agreement. Still, if your case goes to trial, you pay for every hour that your lawyer and any of the other employees at the law firm spend working on your case. This adds up to a lot of hours, even if you reach a settlement during the pretrial discovery phase.
Furthermore, when a judge decides, there is a chance that the judge will rule against you, and you will not get a penny from the other party. Meanwhile, you will still have to pay all of your legal fees. Personal injury lawyers tend to have “You don’t pay unless and until you win” policies because their clients are suffering from injury-related financial hardships, but if you file a business dispute lawsuit, you have been in business long enough to know that you have to spend money to get money.
Therefore, litigants are increasingly turning to alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and courts encourage it. ADR can take the form of mediation or arbitration. In mediation, the goal is always a settlement. The mediator does not decide the outcome of the dispute; he or she only facilitates negotiations. In arbitration, the arbitrator can make the decision. The advantage of arbitration over litigation is that it is less expensive, and decisions do not become a matter of public record.
If a Judge Makes an Unfair Decision, You Have Legal Remedies
The trouble with arbitration decisions is that they are as legally binding as court decisions, but it is more difficult to overturn them if you believe that the outcome is unfair. If a judge rules on your lawsuit, you always have the right to appeal the decision, and the appeals court will review it. By contrast, if you want a court to change an arbitrator’s decision, you must first face the herculean task of persuading the court as to why it should interfere with a legally binding arbitration agreement. You spend as much money for as little certainty as if you had started out suing in court in the first place.
Dispute Resolution Begins in Your Business Contract
Most of the time, the decision to address a dispute through litigation or ADR begins before the dispute arises. Most business contracts have dispute resolution clauses that indicate which court, if any, has jurisdiction to rule on disputes arising from the agreement. Some dispute resolution clauses in business agreements require the parties to resolve their disputes through litigation and to waive their rights to file lawsuits in court.
Contact Singular Law Group About Business Disputes
A business law attorney can help you interpret the dispute resolution clauses in your business contract and successfully resolve business disputes arising from those contracts. Contact Singular Law Group PLLC to set up a consultation.
An Arizona business law attorney can help you resolve business disputes through lawsuits, ADR, arbitration, or mediation.
