In New York, business disputes commonly occur over a variety of different matters. Most often, businesses can disagree on the clauses 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 Southampton, New York, you should review any documents that are relevant to the disagreement, especially contracts. These documents might have clauses that must be followed when considering how to resolve the dispute. Not all contracts have dispute resolution clauses, of course, and occasionally neither business has any documents relevant to the dispute at all. If that is the case, a court might be needed 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. There are laws specific to each state that govern how to approach dispute resolution. Lawyers practicing in Southampton are best suited to offer advice in accordance with New York law. Resolution of the dispute might even be reached outside of court once an attorney's knowledge of the law smoothens negotiations between the two parties.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Contracts often have terms 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. All types 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 decision based on local law. If ADR is to be used in resolving your dispute, an attorney in Southampton specialized with ADR procedures can help you develop your case.