Many 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 Portsmouth, Virginia you should first review any relevant documents, including past and current contracts. These documents may contain clauses that dictate how and where you should handle a dispute. If there are no relevant documents, or the contracts do not have resolution clauses, then the dispute may need to be taken to court. Where the parties have not agreed beforehand about how to handle disputes, legal principles have been designed to determine the resolution. When they are called upon, Virginia courts try to discover the best resolution by looking to the facts of the particular situation presented. Each state has different business laws about dispute resolution and contract law. An Attorney practicing in Portsmouth can help you handle your dispute in accordance with the applicable Virginia laws. Negotiations may also proceed more smoothly when an attorney is consulted, which may even lead to a resolution outside of court.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Contracts sometimes 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 forms 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 determination based on local law. If ADR is to be used in resolving your dispute, an attorney in Portsmouth experienced with ADR procedures can help you develop your case.