Business Litigation

Business litigation involves disputes arising out of business and commercial relationships.
It includes disputes between businesses, businesses and government agencies, or businesses and groups of people. 

Business disputes could arise from breach of contract, regulatory investigations, intellectual property infringements, confidentiality breaches, fraud, etc.

Business litigation is often complex and requires a thorough understanding of all the parties’ positions, in order to put forward a claim or defense that is likely to succeed. Being involved in business litigation could have negative effects on the reputation of a business, in addition to other possible negative effects, which is why it is imperative to ensure that one engages the right legal expertise if faced with the possibility of business litigation.

Our Approach

Business litigation could be time consuming and expensive, especially when the dispute goes on to the appeal courts. This is why our preferred approach is to litigate only as a last resort. We generally encourage our clients to first pursue alternative means of dispute resolution, such as negotiation or mediation, unless any of these methods is unsuitable for achieving our client’s objectives.

Where we go ahead to litigate, speed is central to our approach. We will put together a team consisting of lawyers from the relevant practice groups, to ensure that your matter receives the right combination of experts. We will analyze the facts of the case carefully and swiftly formulate and implement a litigation strategy, while keeping you updated at every stage of the process.

A plaintiff commences litigation by filing the appropriate originating process at the relevant court, stating their cause of action and claim. The originating process is then served on the defendant, after which, the parties will proceed to discovery. Discovery is a compulsory process of disclosure that allows the parties to obtain documents which are relevant to the case

The court may require the parties to attempt to settle the dispute through mediation and will appoint a mediator to facilitate the settlement.

Where mediation is unsuccessful, the case will proceed to trial. During trial., each party will have the opportunity to present their case in detail to the judge, call witnesses and tender evidence. A Trial may be completed in several sittings, after which, the judge will issue a judgment.

Any party who is unhappy with the judgment in the matter may proceed to appeal against it at the appellate court.