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 Spirit Lake, 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. If there are no relevant documents, or the contracts do not have resolution clauses, then the dispute may need to be taken to court. Where the parties have not agreed beforehand about how to handle disputes, legal principles have been designed to determine the resolution. When they are called upon, Iowa courts try to discover the best resolution by looking to the facts of the particular situation presented. The fields of contract law and dispute resolution are defined by local state law. Spirit Lake Attorneys are accustomed to handling disputes under Iowa law, and can offer personalized advice for all types of business disputes. With an attorney's knowledge of the law, the parties of a dispute may be able to avoid going to court entirely, since negotiations often proceed more smoothly with representation.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Contracts often have clauses requiring that a dispute be handled outside of court. This is called Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR, and it includes Mediation and Arbitration among others. ADR focuses on reaching the same resolution that a court would have, without the parties actually going to court. Methods of ADR often involve their own protocols, sometimes bringing in a third party to find a solution based on local law. If your business dispute is to be resolved by ADR, an attorney familiar with these methods in Spirit Lake can counsel you throughout the process and develop the case you will present.