It’s extremely common for a particular business to receive complaints and lawsuits. Business lawsuits can be filed by anybody, from a disgruntled employee to a big-name competitor. Nonetheless, it can cause your company to lose a lot of money in the process if mishandled.
Fortunately, certain guides can help you go through the legal journey step-by-step. Everybody is just beginning to recover, especially with the post-pandemic world just around the corner. There should be no reason for you or your company to shell out exorbitant amounts of money for legal disputes and other unnecessary circumstances.
Handling a Business Lawsuit
Nobody is particularly safe from receiving a business lawsuit. Some of the biggest global companies have also gone through their fair share of high-profile legal battles. As an entrepreneur, you should always be prepared for when another entity files a case against your company.
There is expected to be a drastic increase in litigation cases concerning businesses as the pandemic continues to ease. This is because most plaintiffs stayed their cases at the height of the global health crisis. Moreover, the pandemic has also caused various complications and issues over the past year. Here’s what you should do to properly address your legal matters.
Find Legal Counsel
The first and perhaps most important step to accomplish when facing any legal battle is to find the appropriate legal counsel. You should hire the services of someone highly specialized, like a lawyer for commercial litigation, that’s in line with the lawsuit you were served. Don’t just settle for any legal counsel at your disposal.
Most businesses would usually already have a lawyer on retainer, or your business’s insurance company would be willing to provide an attorney. While these can be convenient options, you should still choose a lawyer who’s an effective communicator with prior experience in the type of case that’s been filed against your company.
Review the Case
After acquiring an attorney or lawyer, you should make sure to review the lawsuit papers along with them. It’s important to note all the information on the lawsuit and verifying its contents. If there are mistakes regarding any major information, particularly the entities associated with the issue at hand, you could move to dismiss the case entirely. This could potentially save your business a lot of time and resources.
Another thing you should do is to preserve any records that are related to the case, regardless of how irrelevant it may seem. Moreover, avoid direct communication with the plaintiff that filed the lawsuit against you. Anything you might say regarding the case can be used against you, even if you’re attempting to reach an amicable resolution.
Determine a Response
Finally, you will often be issued a deadline to respond to the lawsuit that’s been filed against you. The usual time frame provided is within 30 days, but it may vary depending on the state. Your response to the complaint should include your positions on each of the allegations against you, your defenses or counterclaims, and whether you want to pursue a trial or alternative resolution.
Do not ignore the lawsuit at all costs. If you fail to respond within the allotted time frame, the plaintiff will most likely win the case. This entails that once the court has settled on a judgment against you, it will be enforced. Of course, you should also take into consideration how your response will affect your business. Likewise, maintain honesty and stick to the facts with your responses
Common Lawsuits
There are different types of business lawsuits that could be filed against you or your company. While you can’t always be prepared for all of them, certain cases occur more frequently than others. Simply knowing which ones are more likely to happen can significantly help you face or even avoid them entirely.
Breach of Contract
One of the most common, especially within the context of the pandemic, is contractual disputes. The countless unfortunate circumstances that have prevailed over the past year have caused major obstacles. Performance of your contractual obligations has been severely hindered, which might lead to a lawsuit being filed against you.
Fortunately, a breach of contract case is also one of the least difficult to settle. As much as possible, attempt to settle this type of lawsuit outside of court to keep the costs to a minimum. Likewise, you could also employ certain considerations that inhibited you from accomplishing your contractual obligations, especially given the global pandemic.
More than Ready
Ultimately, business lawsuits will always be part of your life as an entrepreneur. Receiving a lawsuit may sometimes feel overwhelming for some, but it can easily be resolved as long as you know the necessary steps. Let this be your guide for handling any legal matter that might come your way in the future.
