In California, there are several different grounds that can lead to a business dispute. Often, prior agreements and contracts have terms that the businesses disagree upon. Disputes can also occur over property matters, billing issues or other disagreements.

What to Do in a Business Dispute?

The first step when involved in a business dispute in Shasta County, California should be to review any documents relevant to the matter, such as contracts. It may have already been decided in these documents how disputes will be handled. However, the dispute may need to be taken to court if contracts do not have resolution clauses, or if there are no documents relevant to the dispute. California courts look to the individual cases in determining the best resolution. Where two parties have not agreed beforehand on how to handle a dispute, a particular set of legal principles is used instead. Each state has different business laws about dispute resolution and contract law. An Attorney practicing in Shasta County can help you handle your dispute in accordance with the applicable California laws. Discussion with the other business about how to resolve the dispute may also proceed more smoothly under the direction of an attorney, avoiding the need to go to court.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Sometimes contracts themselves require that disputes under them be resolved outside of court. Methods of conflict resolution of this type are called Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR. ADR includes Mediation, Arbitration and sometimes a combination of the two. All forms of ADR are designed to reach the same decision a court would have, without needing to actually go to court. They carry their own sets of procedures and protocols, and they often involve a neutral third party listening to both sides of a dispute and making a determination based on local law. An attorney familiar with ADR in Shasta County can counsel you through the process if your business dispute is to be resolved by ADR.