Civil Disputes

Civil law as opposed to criminal law, is the law that covers disputes between individuals, companies or organisations and are usually resolved by the payment of damages from one party to another or one party being ordered to do something, such as to pass over some documents or to undertake some work, such as to rebuild a wall. 

We specialise in property litigation, professional negligence, contested probate (trust, wills & estates disputes), civil fraud – undue influence and misrepresentation and injunctions. 

Whether or not you will have to attend court, varies on many external factors, such as the nature of the dispute and the reaction of the other parties. 

There are a number of ways that a dispute can be resolved without court proceedings being issued, via Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). 

Informally, the parties can agree to hold a “roundtable” discussion where they (and their lawyers) can gather together to discuss the dispute and conduct negotiations. 

The parties can engage in “Without Prejudice” correspondence via their lawyers through emails, letters and telephone, with the genuine intention of wanting to settle the claim on behalf of the parties. 

More formal options include Arbitration – where an Arbitrator/panel of Arbitrators is appointed by the parties to listen to their case and make a binding ruling; this is similar to court in style but is designed to be quicker, more streamlined and cost-effective. This is usually more sensible for higher-value disputes. 

Mediation is where the parties appoint an independent, entirely impartial Mediator to conduct “shuttle diplomacy” between the parties. The mediator listens to the views of all involved and actively works to narrow the issues and encourage (but not push) the parties to reach settlement. 

There are also other options such as Early Neutral Evaluation, but this is relatively rare; it is far more common for the parties to engage in Mediation for example.  

Ultimately, the most appropriate method of settling a dispute very much depends on the individual case. 

We will keep all your details confidential, however, if proceedings are commenced, the majority of the time, these are public documents, although if there is a real need to keep details private, an application can be made to the court.  

The position is that a claimant should be put back into the position they would have been had the cause of action not arisen, it is possible for a party to recover some of their costs from the losing side, but this would vary depending upon the costs regime the matter is allocated to and will also depend upon when the matter is concluded.  

Alternative dispute resolution is the means of resolving disputes without an order from a Judge. This can take place by mediation, round table negotiations, arbitration or without prejudice correspondence.