Business disputes in Tennessee often happen in many different areas. Frequently businesses disagree on the exact terms of prior contracts or arrangements. Also, billing issues and property matters can give rise to disagreements in the business setting.

What to Do in a Business Dispute?

The first step when involved in a business dispute in Signal Mountain, Tennessee should be to review any documents relevant to the matter, such as contracts. It might have already been determined in these documents how disputes will be handled. 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. Tennessee courts look to the individual cases in determining the best resolution. Where two parties have not agreed beforehand on how to handle a dispute, a specific set of legal principles is used instead. Each state has different business laws about dispute resolution and contract law. An Lawyer practicing in Signal Mountain can help you handle your dispute in accordance with the applicable Tennessee laws. Negotiations might also proceed more smoothly when an attorney is consulted, which may even lead to a resolution outside of court.

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. 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 determine a dispute based on local law just as a judge would do. If your business dispute is to be resolved by ADR, an attorney experienced with these methods in Signal Mountain can counsel you throughout the process and develop the case you will present.