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 a business dispute should happen in Lawrence, New York, 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 the contracts do not have resolution clauses, or neither business has any recorded documents relevant to the dispute, then the matter 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, New York courts try to discover the best resolution by looking to the facts of the particular situation presented. There are laws specific to each state that govern how to approach dispute resolution. Attorneys practicing in Lawrence are best suited to offer advice in accordance with New York law. 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 Lawrence can counsel you through the process if your business dispute is to be resolved by ADR.