Business Disputes: Pre-Lawsuit Counseling:
Skilled, Experienced Help by San Diego Law Firm

Help with All Types of Business Disputes, Lawsuits, Disagreements

Before advising any business client to file a lawsuit or spend a substantial sum defending against a lawsuit in court, San Diego Law Firm offers pre-lawsuit counseling.  After reviewing the history of your business dispute and any related documents, we will advise you on all of the following:

• The potential to resolve your dispute by settlement, mediation, or arbitration
• The potential expense of a lawsuit, versus the potential expense of the alternatives
• The pros and cons, and potential outcomes, or taking your case to court

Although every case is different, some of the general considerations that apply to most business disputes are covered below and on the following pages.

Resolving Your Dispute by Settlement, Mediation, or Arbitration

In our experience, most business cases have the potential to be resolved before the case proceeds to final decision by a judge or jury.  A pre-judgment resolution can be desirable for many reasons, including:

1. It's faster and less expensive than a lawsuit
2. It can be broader than the dispute:  you can resolve potential future disagreements, or related problems, all at the same time.  If you have an ongoing business relationship with the other side, you can also seek to agree on an out-of-court method for resolving any future disagreements
3. It makes it easier to preserve ongoing business relationships
4. It takes less time away from your business than a lawsuit does
5. It minimizes the potential for unfavorable publicity
6. With settlement discussions, mediation, and non-binding arbitration, you can still go to court if you can't reach a satisfactory resolution.  (With binding arbitration, the conclusion of the arbitrator is generally final.)              

Potential Expense of Lawsuit vs. Potential Expense of Alternatives

We will review with you the potential cost of all methods for resolving the dispute, including attorney fees, court filing fees, general litigation costs, and the costs of mediation and arbitration. 

If you are in the position of defending against a lawsuit, we will also review your business insurance policy.  If it appears that your policy may pay for the defense of your lawsuit and any settlement or judgment, we will advise you on the pros of this (paid defense costs and judgment) and the cons (higher premiums, possible cancellation of coverage, lack of ability to choose defense counsel, and loss of some control over the lawsuit), and assist you as needed if you decide to tender your case to your insurance company.

Pros and Cons, and Potential Outcomes, of Taking Case to Court

Some business cases cannot be resolved outside of court, or you may decide that it is in your best interest to go to court. Although there is no way to guarantee any particular outcome of a case in court, we will review the possibilities with you, and advise you, based on our years of experience, which outcomes are the most likely.  We will also review the pros and cons of going to court.  Although the situation is different for each case, some of the more generally applicable pros and cons are the following:

Pros of Seeking a Court Decision

• A favorable court decision could award you more money than any other form of dispute resolution.
• Even if the trial court decision is not in your favor, you can often appeal the decision, which is usually not possible if you used arbitration.
• You can strengthen your case using the many investigation tools that are available in trials, and you can question your opponent's witnesses.
• If your business is being harmed by the other party's activities, then a court-ordered injunction to end that activity may be possible.
• You may be able to obtain a favorable court decision without a full trial.

Cons of Seeking a Court Decision

• Even if you've won the lawsuit, litigation is often expensive.  The costs and attorneys fees involved in the pretrial and trial process must be weighed against possible court outcomes. 
• Your dispute may present issues that go beyond your legal claims, which would make even a favorable verdict only a partial solution for you.
• By filing a lawsuit, you might risk being countersued by the defending party.
• Be prepared to make a significant time commitment in the preparation and trial of your case, and expect court delays.  We will ensure you evaluate whether, based on your circumstances, time would be better spent running your business rather than litigating.
• There are many factors you can't control in litigation, such as what a jury will ultimately decide, creating more uncertainty for you.
• Trials must follow strict rules that can exclude evidence that could have helped your case. 
• Your case may involve sensitive and confidential information which could be made public and reach your competitor's or business associate's hands.  While we will take steps to protect confidential information, this risk remains.
• Even though there is a current dispute, your business relationship with the other party may still be a valuable asset that can be jeopardized by hostile litigation. 

The business dispute that leads you to consider filing a lawsuit may itself divert your attention from other important considerations and legal factors that are crucial to preserving your financial interests.  Our pre-litigation counseling will bring these considerations to light, and we will advise you on how you can best preserve your business relationships and resolve your dispute, while saving you time, money, and worries.

 Benefits to Our Clients

We are committed to keeping our business clients fully informed and offering them the guidance and support they need to make good choices between different legal alternatives.  San Diego Law Firm will ensure that all of your legal matters are supervised by a seasoned senior partner who will act as your Personal Legal Representative and oversee your legal affairs, even if another attorney is performing a particular service for you. For as long as we represent you, you will receive the same dedication and quality of service that brought you to us in the first place.

How to Contact San Diego Law Firm

We handle matters throughout California, and new clients are always welcome. For more information or to make an appointment, please contact us either by:

Telephone: (619) 794-0243

E-mail: contactus@SanDiegoLawFirm.com
 

We can be reached by telephone Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You may also use the form below to contact us. This form is answered Monday through Friday during the work day. Please remember that for us to become your attorneys, we must first have a written attorney-client agreement signed by both of us, so please do not email any confidential information at this point. After we have reached an agreement with you, we can then exchange information freely. We look forward to helping you.

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