Disputes and Claims FAQs

What is a Litigation Risk?

 
There can never be any guarantee with court proceedings, and the courts should only be used as a last resort. Many factors can effect the outcome of your case. We do not know how witnesses are going to come across to a Judge or whether a Judge will prefer a different legal interpretation of the case. The fact that there can never be a guarantee of success is referred to as the litigation risk. Subject to this inherent risk, we can of course give you our opinion as to whether your case is strong, and whether it should be pursued, or settled on the best terms.
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Who will pay the Costs of the Case?

 
You will be primarily responsible for your own solicitors costs which are incurred pursuing the case on your behalf. If you are successful however, you may be entitled to claim some or all of your legal fees from your opponent. This rule can of course work against you if you are unsuccessful. Whilst the courts try and limit awards of costs to what is proportional to the case itself, it is unfortunate that in some cases costs can easily outweigh the benefit to be gained by litigating a case. This fact will be considered with you at the outset and regularly reviewed. It is not uncommon for clients to take "commercial decisions" on whether to fight a case in light of the legal fees which may be incurred.
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Will you accept my case on a "no win - no fee" basis?

 
We are willing to consider any litigation on this basis, but the greater the risk which we take on your behalf, the greater success fee we will require in the event that you win your case.
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Will Expert Evidence be Required?

 
This will depend upon your particular case. If a commercial dispute revolves around the obligations of either party, then legal submissions can be made by reference to the paperwork which passed between the parties. It might be however that an allegation is made that the quality of work or product was below standard, in which case it is likely that a joint independent expert will need to be instructed to provide a report for the benefit of the court.
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I have Heard about "ADR" - but what is it?

 
Issuing proceedings can often damage commercial relationships and sometimes clients are keen to avoid this. In such situations Alternative Dispute Resolution may be a good alternative to Litigation, which can be expensive and time consuming. There are numerous different types of ADR, but the most common ones are Mediation, Neutral Evaluation, Mini-trial and Adjudication. The different types of ADR will depend upon each different case. There is a high success rate of cases which are referred to ADR, allowing clients to get on with the running of their businesses.
 
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