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Guide to the UK litigation process for business

May 17, 2023

Doing business includes not only activities for the purpose of achieving profit, but also inextricably linked with various negotiations and disputes. An open discussion is usually that is needed to deal with situation or solve the issue amicably. Nevertheless, if you are unable to resolve the differences yourself and a dispute arises between you and your counterpart, the commercial litigation process comes to the rescue.

The English Courts consider that the litigation should be the last resort and the parties should ideally use other effective measures for resolving business disputes without need for court proceedings. Therefore, the courts expect business to behave reasonably to try to avoid litigation.

All legal actions taken where there is corporate involvement are essentially a commercial litigation process. This type of litigation can be used to resolve any type of business dispute, but you should consider with your solicitor what form of dispute resolution would be appropriate and what effect any type of resolution may have on your business.

Parties and their legal advisers are encouraged to enter preliminary discussions and negotiations prior to starting litigations. When you and your legal representatives decide that there is a realistic claim, a detailed letter of claim (or letter before action) must be sent to the defendant, setting out the terms of the claim and allowing sufficient time for them to reply. Then you can choose a variety of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approaches, such as mediation, arbitration, executive tribunal and early neutral evaluation.

The use of ADR to settle a dispute can have the following general benefits: saving time, saving money, confidentiality, maintaining positive business relationships and likelihood of achieving settlement. If ADR is successful, all parties will be engaged with their agreed settlement.

If ADR was not successful, parties should demonstrate to the court that they behaved reasonably and made real attempts to avoid corporate (commercial) litigation.

The main stages of the commercial litigation process are:

  • Bringing and defending the claim (commencement of the case);
  • Case management conference (to decide the future conduct of the case, disclosure of documents, exchange of witness statements, expert reports, costs budgets and fixing the trial date);
  • Trial;
  • Judgment;
  • Appeals and enforcement.   

The perceived advantages and disadvantages of specific way to resolve the dispute should be assessed carefully depending on the particular circumstances of the matter.

Therefore, if you are involved in a commercial dispute or thinking about legal help in finding the solution to any unresolved business issues, feel free to contact Wallace Robinson & Morgan Solicitors to get professional advice, contact us at 0121 705 7571 or enquiries@wallacerobinson.co.uk.

Kateryna Knyazyeva
Paralegal – Commercial Department

This article is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute technical, financial, legal advice or any other type of professional advice and is no substitute for specific advice based on your individual circumstances. We do not accept responsibility or liability for any actions taken based on the information in this article. For more information, please click here.