Several different grounds can give rise to Business disputes in Virginia. Often, businesses will disagree over the exact meaning of terms found in contracts or prior oral agreements. Billing issues and property matters also commonly form grounds for disagreements between businesses.

What to Do in a Business Dispute?

If you are involved in a business dispute in Abingdon, Virginia you should first review all relevant documents, including past and current contracts. These documents might contain clauses that dictate how and where you should handle a 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. Virginia courts may use legal principles to determine the outcome when the parties have not agreed beforehand about how to handle a dispute. In so doing, they look carefully to a specific case to discover the best resolution for all involved. Each state has different business laws about dispute resolution and contract law. An Lawyer practicing in Abingdon can help you handle your dispute in accordance with the applicable Virginia 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 eradicates the need to go to court, while attempting to reach the same resolution that a court would have. Different types of ADR involve their own procedures, however, and they often include a neutral third party making a decision based on local law. If ADR is to be used in resolving your dispute, an attorney in Abingdon familiar with ADR procedures can help you develop your case.