All You Need To Know About Commercial Litigation
In the eyes of the law, commercial litigation is an umbrella term for all the issues that arise between different businesses, or between a company and its consumers, or among regulatory agencies.
There are different types of commercial litigation, such as securities litigation (when security laws are breached), violation of contract (when terms mentioned in the contract are not followed through), IP litigation (when copyrights and trademarks are stolen), consumer class action (when consumers form a group to sue a company), etc.
Impact of commercial litigation
Commercial litigation is caused when the normal flowing of business is disrupted due to a dispute caused by different reasons. Now, such a dispute hinders the way the business is conducted normally. It is also a huge burden on the individuals who are handling the issue because it requires a lot of their time and effort.
The consequences of the issue may affect the company while and even after the issue has been resolved. Moreover, it causes a huge blow to the reputation of the company. Existing clients may choose to do business with other companies, mostly competitors; while, potential clients may not opt for the said company for fear of having to face any issue in the future. Suppliers may cease to continue trading and this may continue well into the future.
Commercial litigation also creates economic injury. Court cases cost large sums of money, and the company might also have to pay money later for damage control. In a nutshell, commercial litigation has a huge negative impact on any kind of business.
How is it different from other civil litigation?
Most civil litigation involves two individuals from two different parties, wherein one of them ends up being condemned as guilty and goes to jail. But, in the case of commercial litigation, nobody ends up in jail because, instead of two individuals, two or more companies or corporations are involved here.
After the passing of the judgment by the court of law, cash or kind is given as compensation. Commercial litigation cases are more complicated than normal civil litigation issues. The cases are heard in federal courts, whereas, other civil litigation issues are mostly filed in state courts. For any individual to be deemed as guilty in any simple civil litigation, there lies a jury to give the verdict within quite a short period. But, issues of commercial litigation may go on for many years without being resolved.
For all these reasons, commercial litigation cases are also more expensive than other civil litigation.
Settling a commercial litigation case
The best way to avoid all the major negative effects that befall a company in case of commercial litigation is to avoid going to court. Considering all the massive effects on the money and the reputation of a company, not going to court is the wisest way out. But, of course, this is a decision that needs to be unanimous among both parties.
Only then, a settlement may be reached without the hassles of a court case. But in case going to the court could not be avoided, then it should be made sure that the company’s performance should not suffer at all due to an ongoing issue.
Conclusion
For a large business, it is impossible to maintain all the criteria and avoid lawsuits for a long period. This is because there are many different ways a company can be sued by as many sources as possible.
Thus, it is necessary to at least make sure that the time and cost spent on the issue are reduced in a way that does not hinder the growth and performance of the business.
