Commercial litigation involves legal issues surrounding businesses and business processes. Litigation on this front may touch on patent disputes, contract disputes, as well as hiring and firing practises. If you run a business, you may require a qualified and experienced solicitor to advice you on legal problems and represent you in court whenever necessary. This guide provides tips for choosing the right commercial litigation lawyer.

Seek Recommendations from Your Business Network

Use your network of business associates and fellow entrepreneurs to find a solicitor. This approach is by far better than using a search engine such as Google to find a lawyer. Your business associates will likely recommend a solicitor that they have used in the past to resolve similar legal problems. On the other hand, using a search engine to find a lawyer does not guarantee that you will get a tried and tested solicitor. In fact, you could end up with a run of the mill lawyer who happens to own a website that ranks highly on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Accreditation

Find out if the lawyer you are eyeing has accreditation from a reputable body. In the UK, accreditation shows that a lawyer has expertise in a particular legal niche. Members of any accreditation scheme must satisfy rigorous and exacting requirements in their area of expertise. In general, your lawyer should have accreditation from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or the Law Society.

Legal Fees

Choose a solicitor who is willing to give you information about your legal costs in writing. This is important because costs vary from one lawyer to the next depending on factors such as the complexity of a case and length of time required to resolve it. With this in mind, you will come across lawyers who charge fixed fees, hourly rates, or an estimate of the expected litigation cost. It is also advisable to find out from your lawyer whether he/she can take a case on a no win no fee basis. It is worth noting that most solicitors who take such cases specialize in either "no win no fee agreements:" conditional fee agreements (CFAs) or damages based agreements (DBAs). Finally, find out whether you may have to pay additional costs such as insurance and disbursements.

Success Rate

In some cases, the outcome of a commercial litigation suit could make the difference between a business continuing to operate and shutting down. For this reason, it is wise to find out the success rate of the lawyer you would like to hire. You do not want to spend money hiring and retaining an expensive solicitor and then lose a patent case or a contract dispute. Ask your lawyer to give you a rundown of cases he/she has handled in the past. This will give you a good idea of whether you are in the right place or should seek legal expertise elsewhere.

All said, choosing the right lawyer is necessary if you would like to win a commercial dispute in or out of court. Besides providing legal advice, your lawyer can negotiate with other parties enjoined in a commercial dispute as well as gather relevant evidence and present it in court.

For commercial litigation, please contact Strain Keville.