Commerical Litigation

What is commerical litigation?

Commerical litigation is a civil lawsuit where one or more participants is a business entity. This means there is no criminal action that resulted in the dispute, rather a legal right is being protected or enforced. This can happen when there is a breach of contract for example.

What is a contract?

A contract is an agreement enforceable by law, which establishes joint commitments between the members of the contract.

What is a breach of contract?

A breach of contract is when one part fails to meet the obligations agreed to in the contract. When this occurs, legal action may be taken by way of commerical litigation.

What damages can I receive for a breach of contract?

Damages are monetary payments that may be rewarded to the party who upheld their contractual obligations when the other party did not. There are several different types of damages for disputes: compensatory, liquidated, nominal, and punitive. Compensatory damages aim to return participants to their pre-contract status as if the contract never occured. Liquidated damages result when an agreed upon amount is to be paid for damages that occured from a breach of contract. Nominal damages occur when none of the parties involved incurred losses when the contract was breached. Finally, punitive damages are designed to punish the party that failed to fulfill their contractual obligations.

What should I do if I get involved in a business dispute?

The first thing to do is to hire an efficient and skilled attorney to help resolve the dispute before legal action is taken.

What types of disputes fall under commercial litigation?

There are several different disputes that are considered commercial litigation. A few include insurance coverage disputes, unfair compensation claims, partnerships and joint enterprise disputes, employment claims, breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder to shareholder litigation, and consumer fraud and protection issues.

How long does commercial litigation typically take?

Commercial litigation can take years to resolve. Typically these require more time to resolve than civil litigaiton lawsuits.

What are the costs associated with commercial litigation?

Costs include the filing of a suit, legal counsel payments, and any additional clerk of court fees. These costs may range depending on the number of parties involved in the suit, amount of damages awarded, or hours spent by legal counsel working on the case.

What are the potential outcomes of commercial litigation?

Outcomes depend on the details of the case. Typically you can expect a settlement, judgement, or dismissal. A settlement occurs when the parties involved agree to settle the dispute outside of the court. A judgement involves a court deciding which party wins the dispute. A dismissal occurs when the dispute is thrown out by the court because there is not enough evidence to support the claims being made.

How does jurisdiction affect commerical litigation?

Certain laws are only appicable based on the jurisdiction the legal claims are made in. For example, disputes less than $75,000 will be handled in state court whereas disputes with higher amounts would likely be settled in federal court if one or more party is a citizen of a different state or country.