What is a dispute lawyer?
Legal disputes are common and frequently arise between companies, persons, or local authorities for a wide variety of reasons. Legal disputes have the potential to be incredibly time consuming and can have a serious impact on relationships and finances. It is for these reasons that it is crucial to have an experienced dispute lawyer on your side in order to reach a successful conclusion on your case with minimal stress.
Dispute resolution lawyers can assist clients by aiding parties to resolve disputes in a number of ways. They help by providing expert legal advice, engaging in various forms of alternative dispute resolution methods, such as negotiation or mediation, or through the use of litigation proceedings at court.
South Bank Legal’s dispute lawyers have a track record of delivering cost effective dispute resolution services to individuals and businesses.
Our success is based on our unwavering commitment to clients’ objectives and an ability to provide decisive and clear advice in even the most complex commercial litigation matters.
What do dispute resolution lawyers do?
Dispute resolution lawyers will typically perform a multitude of tasks on their clients’ behalf, such as:
- Advising clients on whether they have a valid claim as well as guiding defendants on the best route to take when a claim has been made against them.
- Attending trials, mediations and arbitrations with instructing clients and providing assistance to barristers when required.
- Gathering any necessary evidence and witnesses to support the client’s claim and develop their case strategies.
- Attending conferences with barristers and briefing them prior to arbitrations, trials and hearings.
- Issuing court proceedings or arranging other methods of settling a case, such as alternative dispute resolution.
- Representing instructing clients in pre-trial hearings and case management conferences
Types of disputes our dispute lawyers assist with
South Bank Legal have experience dealing with a wide range of legal disputes. We ensure that we give our clients understandable and clear legal advice. Our dispute resolution solicitors have particular expertise in the following areas:
- Commercial Litigation – Our commercial litigation team can assist with legal disputes that arise throughout the course of business and negotiate any settlements. Our commercial litigators have vast experience resolving business disputes and commercial contracts.
- Breach of contract claims – When a party fails to uphold their side of an agreement, it can be expensive and disruptive for others involved. Claiming for a breach of contract can help the affected party recover their losses. These issues can include written and verbal contracts.
- Company disputes and shareholder litigation – Legal disputes can occur internally within companies and businesses. These disputes typically include shareholder and partnership disagreements.
- Professional negligence claims – If a professional’s work or advice does not reach the expected standard, they breach their duty of care. If their client suffers as a result of this, they could make a claim for professional negligence. Professional negligence claims can be made against those that claim to have expertise in a particular field.
- Intellectual property disputes, namely passing off claims, copyright infringement and trade mark infringement. Our technology and IP solicitors are able to advise entrepreneurs on how to protect their creative assets from others and make the most of them.
- Fraud claims – Our litigation team can assist clients in the recovery of assets and losses following cases of fraud. Victims of fraudfraud: in the context of commercial dispute resolution (as o... must act decisively and swiftly to trace and recover their assets to prevent fraudsters from disposing of them. These cases are serious as they can have a severe financial impact on those affected.
- Insolvency – At South Bank Legal, our company insolvency and bankruptcy solicitors act for companies and individuals in financial difficulty, as well as creditors seeking debt recovery and to protect their position in cases of actual or threatened insolvency.
- Property disputes – Property disputes can occur between landlords and tenants, homeowners and property developers. These disputes typically involve issues with contract disputes, boundary issues and disrepair claims.
If you are currently dealing with one of the legal disputes listed above, please contact South Bank Legal today in order to get in contact with one of our dispute resolution lawyers for an initial consultation and to discuss your potential options going forward.
Our aim is to cost effectively resolve legal disputes in a short amount of time and to keep our clients out of court when it is possible. We represent clients in the UK and abroad across a wide range of industries.
The process of making a claim
When a client initially contacts one of our dispute resolution lawyers for legal advice, it is the dispute lawyer’s role to analyse their legal claim or defence and discuss the next steps with the client. They will then ask the client questions about their situation and may require further documentation or information to gain a better understanding of how they should proceed with their case.
The dispute lawyer should always advise the claimant or defendant on whether they believe they have a strong case or not.
Every case is unique, and the steps in the case will be dependent on the complexity and type of the case. However, in most cases, the dispute lawyer will typically suggest an attempt to settle the case using initial negotiations before proceeding to more formal alternative dispute resolution or court proceedings.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
When possible, our dispute resolution team helps clients to resolve their disputes using alternative dispute resolution (ADR). ADR is an effective method of resolving disputes without requiring the use of any formal court proceedings. ADR is cost-effective and can reduce the amount of time needed to settle a legal dispute.
Alternative dispute resolution methods typically include mediation, arbitration and informal negotiations.
- Mediationmediation: in the context of litigation and dispute resoluti... involves a mediator who encourages both parties to come to a settlement.
- Arbitration is a formal resolution method in which an arbitrator will make a decision based on the evidence that both parties provide.
- Informal negotiations can be entered into at any time when both parties negotiate an agreement to settle.
Our specialist team of dispute resolution lawyers can analyse your case and discuss options available to you, as well as advise you on how you should proceed.
If you are deciding whether or not to enforce or defend your legal rights, either through the UK Courts and Tribunals system or via an alternative means such as mediation, you can contact one of our litigation and dispute resolution lawyers for a confidential discussion today.
Court Litigationlitigation: the bringing of a lawsuit or legal claim in cour...
If your legal dispute cannot be resolved through alternative dispute resolution methods, your case may then be taken through the court litigation process. If this happens, our skilled litigation lawyers have substantial experience representing our clients at all levels of court, including the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
Dispute lawyers are able to deal with drafting disclosure and witness statements and can instruct Counsel to attend a trial, prepare trial bundles and any relevant documentation required by the court in both pre- and post-trial. Dispute lawyers can also represent instructing clients at case management conferences, interim court applications and pre-trial hearings.
Our litigation solicitors will attend conferences with their clients to discuss the case and prepare their case for trial. At the trial, the solicitor will usually instruct a barrister to present the case and will ensure that their client understands exactly what is going on during the trial.
How can South Bank Legal assist?
Our dispute resolution lawyers handle a range of disputes, from complex breach of contract claims and shareholder disputes to debt recovery proceedings on behalf of businesses.
In cases small or large, we consider that it is crucial to control the costs of litigation to ensure that perspective is not lost and that legal costs do not grow out of proportion to what is at stake.
Our client profile is particularly diverse. As dispute resolution lawyers, we have represented high profile government regulators, financial institutions and political parties, but we are equally at home when pursuing the rights of individuals against big businesses, where a tenacious approach can more than even up the balance of power.
At South Bank Legal, our legal team have years of experience in all areas of law. We always work closely with our clients and ensure that we provide the legal services that they need to reach the best conclusion for their case.
Our law firm is Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Our dispute resolution lawyers are able to offer legal services to individuals in England and Wales. We have offices located in Central London.
For more information, you can contact South Bank Legal via email at info@southbanklegal.com or telephone 0203 1266 584 for a confidential discussion with a dispute resolution lawyer today.
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