Several 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 Mountlake Terrace, Washington 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. However, the dispute may need to be taken to court if contracts do not have resolution clauses, or if there are no documents relevant to the dispute. Washington 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 particular case to discover the best resolution for all involved. The laws designed to settle contract disputes are different in each state. Attorneys practicing in Mountlake Terrace are versed in the contract law of Washington, and can help you to handle the dispute should it go to court. An attorney's knowledge of the law may also lead to a more streamlined discussion with the other business about how to resolve the dispute. Negotiations may even enable you to resolve the dispute without going to court.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Sometimes contracts themselves require that disputes under them be resolved outside of court. Methods of conflict resolution of this type are called Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR. ADR includes Mediation, Arbitration and sometimes a combination of the two. ADR focuses on reaching the same resolution that a court would have, without the parties actually going to court. Methods of ADR often involve their own protocols, sometimes bringing in a third party to find a solution based on local law. If your business dispute is to be resolved by ADR, an attorney familiar with these methods in Mountlake Terrace can counsel you throughout the process and develop the case you will present.