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 Fredericksburg, 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. In trying to discover the best resolution for two parties who have not agreed beforehand on a resolution, Virginia courts will use specific legal principles designed for the situation. There are laws specific to each state that govern how to approach dispute resolution. Lawyers practicing in Fredericksburg are best suited to offer advice in accordance with Virginia law. Discussion with the other business about how to resolve the dispute might also proceed more smoothly under the direction of an attorney, avoiding the need to go to court.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Disagreements in contracts must often be resolved outside of court according to a dispute resolution clause. Methods of resolving a conflict outside of court are called Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR. These methods include Mediation, Arbitration and Collaboration. 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 Fredericksburg can counsel you throughout the process and develop the case you will present.