In New York, business disputes commonly occur over a variety of different matters. Most often, businesses can disagree on the terms of contracts and prior arrangements. Property matters and billing issues also frequently form the basis of disputes between businesses.

What to Do in a Business Dispute?

If involved in a business dispute in Catskill, New York, reviewing any relevant documents, especially contracts, should be the first step. These documents may determine how the dispute will be resolved. If there are no dispute resolution clauses in the contracts, or there are no attending documents at all, the parties may always resort to the courts to resolve the dispute. New York courts will look to your specific 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 Catskill are versed in the contract law of New York, and can help you to handle the dispute should it go to court. Negotiations may also proceed more smoothly when an attorney is consulted, which may even lead to a resolution outside of court.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Many contracts have terms that will determine how a dispute is handled. These are often referred to as Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR clauses. These methods of resolution include Mediation and Arbitration, among others. 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. An attorney familiar with ADR in Catskill can counsel you through the process if your business dispute is to be resolved by ADR.