A Simple Guide To Business Litigation
If you are a business owner then you should brush up on your knowledge of business litigation. This is one aspect of owning a business that you may or may not ever face, but you should still be knowledgeable about it. This article will help give you some information to get you started on learning more about it.
What is business litigation?
Business litigation is the process of negotiating or going through arbitration proceedings when there are disputes that need to be worked through. Business litigation can be held between two businesses who are disputing or between a business and an individual. The ultimate hope will be that a business can take care of the problems being dealt with in litigation without things going all the way to court in the form of an actual law suit.
What are some of the reasons for business litigation?
- Financial disputes – Business litigation may be done if a business owner feels that a partner or anyone else they are involved with through their business is not acting ethically. For example, if a business owner feels that their partner is doing them wrong, then they may go through business litigation to try to figure out how to best handle the situation in a way that everyone can agree to.
- Breach of fiduciary duty – One business partner may feel that the other is acting in a way that is going against the best interest of the business and violating their obligation to be loyal to the business and operate within the guidelines of good faith. In this case, business litigation can help the partners come to an agreement.
- Breach of contract – If a person breaches a contract against the business then litigation can help them to come to a mutual agreement regarding how to best come to a fair settlement regarding that breach.
- Employee claims – If an employee files a claim against a business for something, such as unlawful termination, or anything else then it can lead to the business entering into business litigation with that employee instead of going to court.
- Disputes with insurance companies – If a business finds that they file a claim they feel is legitimate and their insurance company denies that claim then the business may take the insurance company through business litigation to see if they can come to an agreement while avoiding going all the way to court.
- Intellectual property – Intellectual property includes things like patents, copyrights and trademarks. When a business feels that its intellectual property has been used without its consent it can lead to them going into business litigation in order to come to an agreeable compensation for this occurring.