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 Tappan, 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 individual 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. Disputes over contracts and other agreements are handled differently depending on the laws of each state. Lawyers in Tappan know the laws of New York, and can offer individualized advice for those involved in business disputes. With an attorney's knowledge of the law, the parties of a dispute might be able to avoid going to court entirely, since negotiations often proceed more smoothly with representation.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Contracts occasionally have clauses that mandate resolution outside of court. Methods for reaching out of court solutions are often called Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR. Mediation and Arbitration are included in the concept of ADR. 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 Tappan experienced with ADR procedures can help you develop your case.