Running a successful business is not as easy as it sounds, especially when you come across a dispute with another party. If you have a dispute with another party, you can better manage your dispute and achieve a better outcome by following these six (6) top tips.

1. Understanding The Dispute

Make sure that you understand what the dispute is, between you and the other party by reviewing all relevant documents and testimonies. You may do this by searching and reading all of the written correspondence, documents and/or agreements between yourself and the other party.

2. Seeking Professional Legal Advice

You may want to seek professional legal advice to assess on the prospects and merits of your case. It is important that you provide your lawyer with a detailed chronology of events and as much written documents, including emails, letters and other forms of social media messages, for his or her preliminary assessment of your case.

3. Undertake A Cost Benefit Analysis

Taking a dispute with another party to court can be a costly exercise. Before you decide to litigate in court, you may want to speak with your lawyer and discuss about conducting a cost benefit analysis to work out the best approach to minimise cost and maximise benefits in your dispute with another party.

4. Balance Of Time, Energy, Effort And Funds Invested Into Litigation

Having a dispute with another party is often emotionally draining, takes a lot of time, energy and effort. It is important to keep calm and keep open communication with your lawyer.

When making a decision to take your dispute with another party to court or not, it is important that you speak with your lawyer to find out if the expected amount of settlement funds that you may receive from mediation or from the court trial is proportionate to the amount of time, energy and funds you will invest into taking a dispute to court.

5. Understand The Nature Of Documents And Principles

When you take a dispute to court, it is important that you review and understand all the documents filed in a court proceeding. You will have a stronger prospect of success if you understand the facts of your case and the relevant legal principles.

6. Consider Early Mediation

Remember most disputes settle outside of court.  Having a mediation at an early stage of court proceedings means that you may not have to spend too much money to get the dispute resolved and are also not locked into a position where you must proceed to resolve this in court.

If you have any legal queries regarding commercial litigation matters, please contact Longton Legal Melbourne office on 03 9670 1199 at your earliest convenience. Our firm’s commercial litigation lawyers will provide you with the best legal advice moving forward.

*Disclaimer：This is intended as general information only and not to be construed as legal advice. The above information is subject to changes over time. You should always seek professional advice before taking any course of action.*