There are several grounds that can lead to business disputes in Kentucky. Business may disagree about the terms of contracts and prior arrangements. Billing issues, property matters and other grounds can also give rise to disputes between businesses.

What to Do in a Business Dispute?

The first step when involved in a business dispute in Columbia, Kentucky 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. Kentucky courts will look to your particular case and try to discover the best resolution. In determining the outcome, they will use a specific set of legal principles designed for situations where the parties have not agreed beforehand on how to handle a dispute. The laws designed to settle contract disputes are different in each state. Attorneys practicing in Columbia are versed in the contract law of Kentucky, and can help you to handle the dispute should it go to court. Resolution of the dispute may even be reached outside of court once an attorney's knowledge of the law smoothens negotiations between the two parties.

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. If ADR is to be used in resolving your dispute, an attorney in Columbia familiar with ADR procedures can help you develop your case.