Litigation Law: What is Business Litigation and its Types?

 Business Litigation Law or Dispute resolution is where a third party to your business or a party within your business has filed a complaint against you of a non-criminal nature, to a court or administrative agency. Business litigation has a number of ways in which it can arise, it can involve a myriad of different types of legal issues and areas. Because of this, litigation law is one of the biggest reasons businesses are taken to court. A business litigation law could go on for years, because of the vast and intricate details the lawyer has to get involved with to make sure the litigation law UK is being followed correctly. 

What are the common types of Business Litigation?

Breach of contract

This is one of the main disputes brought forward to court against a business. Once signed and agreed on by both parties, breaching the terms and conditions of the contract is a sure fire way of getting a business law started. Compensation for losses because of the breach can be claimed by both sides of the dispute depending on who was in breach. This is the reason most contracts are written up by the businesses lawyer, to assure all areas are covered. There are four ways in which a breach can occur and how it will be handled in court;

·         Material Breach of contract - This is where the breach is so substantial to the contract it almost renders it “broken”.

·         Minor breach of contract - This is where majority of the contract terms are met, but a small term may not be met that doesn’t fail the contract.

·         Anticipatory breach of contract - This is where information is given which may indicate that the contract will be broken by one or both parties in the future.

·         Fundamental or Actual breach of contract - This is where both parties or one purposely break the terms of the contract.

Partnership Disputes

If you have started your business with someone else, they are a partner to all the business entails and the day to day running of the company. When you start this business usually you will have the same ambition for your business and set your goals together, however disputes can arise and this is where one area of litigation falls and that is for partnership disputes. This usually happens where one of the partners will start to disagree with how the business should be run. Other ways in which a dispute can be brought forward is;

• Misappropriating partnership funds

• Illegal activity that could in turn hurt or effect the business

• Partnership agreements breach

• Written agreements breach

Taking this to court with the correct litigation lawyer that practices partnership disputes, is the last resort. Majority of the time many business partners can resolve the issue themselves privately without involving a lawyer or their employees. However if it needs to be taken to court this is an area of litigation law UK that can be obtained.

Shareholder disputes

Similar to Partnership disputes, this is where a shareholder/s feel like parts of the business are not being run in a way that protects the share they have within the company. The company needs to have their shareholders interests as one of their priorities, the interests of a dispute could be;

• Payment of dividends

• Illegal actions such as fraud

• Breach of the Shareholder agreement

• Conflicts of interests

• Disagreements over some actions taken by corporate

• Being denied access to corporate records or ledgers

• Excessive compensation

Fiduciary Duty Breach

In regard to business affairs, two parties can get into a legal relationship of trust called a fiduciary relationship. This often arises when one party will take on a responsibility to act in the best interest of the other party. This could be; employee to employer, corporate to shareholders, partners to one another and major shareholders to minor shareholders. If you work in a specific company you may also have a fiduciary relationship with your clients, Lawyers and estate agents being examples.

Common ways in which a Fiduciary duty is breached are:

• Conflict of interest

• Misusing funds

• Illegal activity (such as fraud)

• Correct accounting failing to be provided

• Material facts not being disclosed and

• Self-dealing

For a fiduciary case to be brought into court under business law, the plaintiff must show that the fiduciary acted in bad faith or had their personal interests in mind.

Fraud

Fraud is a deceptive action which intentionally provides the party committing the fraud unlawful gain. This is done by a representation of facts which are knowingly false to gain access to something that is not provided without the fraudulent act. Within the business law it can fall under many different categories and can be committed by one or both parties. Some types of fraud can include:

• Tax

• Bankruptcy

• Credit Card

• Wire

• Insurance

• Cooking the books

• Identity theft

These are only a few types of where fraud can take place within a business. The site below is the official Government Website stating the Fraud Act 2006. This site shows all the types of fraud that can take place.

https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/fraud-act-2006

Business fraud litigation can result in:

• Reputation Damages

• Monetary Damages

• Disgorgement

• Injunctive Relief

Employment Disputes

Business Employment claims are most likely to be a common litigation also. This is where an employee of your company has filed a dispute against you because of a personal reason. Some of the claims that may arise are:

• Discrimination Claims

• Harassment Claims

• Wrongful termination

• Breach of agreements (nondisclosure or non-complete)

• Retaliation Claims

• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) violations

• Employee Retirement income security act (ERISA) violations

The complaint or dispute could arise between two or more of your employees, you as the employer must take it into your own hands and use your power to fix this dispute before you or the third party are sued with a litigation case, by allowing the hostile work environment to continue or get worse.

 

Personal Injury At The Work Place

Personal injury can happen all over the workplace and can be turned into a lawsuit very quickly if the victim feels this should be taken further because of company negligence. This can occur if someone is injured by the product you make via the warehouse or another environment. This can also be a lack of properly placed properly, such as a badly placed wire in a walkway. Health and safety measures need to be followed by a company correctly to stop any negligence being brought up in the case against them. If brought to a court under a business law, this could lead to a fine being paid to the injured victim or even a closure of the company. This can be avoided with the correct employment training, health and safety knowledge and knowledge of Litigation Law UK.

These are just common types of the UK

Business Litigation law, however there can be a lot more areas to cover when it comes to a company. Talking to a Litigation Lawyer will give you more indication if the dispute being put forward is under Litigation Law UK.

 Originally published at- https://www.mishoura.com/blog/litigation-law-what-is-business-litigation-and-its-types