In Iowa, 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?
If a business dispute should happen in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, you should review any documents that are relevant to the disagreement, especially contracts. These documents may have clauses that must be followed when considering how to resolve the dispute. Not all contracts have dispute resolution clauses, of course, and sometimes neither business has any documents relevant to the dispute at all. If that is the case, a court may be needed to resolve the dispute. Iowa courts may use legal principles to determine the outcome when the parties have not agreed beforehand about how to handle a dispute. In so doing, they look carefully to a particular case to discover the best resolution for all involved. Disputes over contracts and other agreements are handled differently depending on the laws of each state. Attorneys in Cedar Rapids know the laws of Iowa, and can offer individualized advice for those involved in business disputes. 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. ADR makes going to court unnecessary, because it is designed to reach the same result that a court would have. Still, some methods of ADR entail their own formal procedures, most enlisting a third party to decide a dispute based on local law just as a judge would do. If your business dispute is to be resolved by ADR, an attorney familiar with these methods in Cedar Rapids can counsel you throughout the process and develop the case you will present.