Various different grounds can give rise to Business disputes in Washington. 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 Auburn, Washington 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. If there are no relevant documents, or the contracts do not have resolution clauses, then the dispute might need to be taken to court. Washington 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. Disputes over contracts and other agreements are handled differently depending on the laws of each state. Lawyers in Auburn know the laws of Washington, 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 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 ADR is to be used in resolving your dispute, an attorney in Auburn specialized with ADR procedures can help you develop your case.