Legal Services for Business
Contract disputes can be costly and disruptive, particularly when they affect cashflow, an important commercial relationship or your ability to move forward.
At WSP, our contract dispute solicitors help businesses and individuals understand their legal position and find a practical way forward.
Whether you believe someone has breached an agreement with you or you are defending a claim made against you, we can assess the contract, evidence and circumstances before advising you on your options.
Where possible, we will look for opportunities to resolve the dispute through negotiation or alternative dispute resolution. Where court proceedings become necessary, we can help you take or defend the claim.
Speak to our contract dispute solicitors in Gloucester and Stroud today.
Contractual disagreements take many forms. We can advise on disputes involving:
We can advise you whether you are considering making a claim or need to respond to allegations made against you.
A breach of contract occurs when one party fails to comply with their contractual obligations.
That does not necessarily mean every disagreement gives rise to a successful legal claim. Before deciding what action to take, it is important to establish what terms formed part of the agreement, whether they have been breached, whether the breach caused loss and what remedies may be available.
Sometimes the first point of disagreement is whether there was a binding contract at all.
Our solicitors can review the agreement and surrounding evidence to help you establish your position.
Potentially.
A contract does not always have to be contained in one signed document. Depending on the circumstances, agreements can be made orally or arise through a combination of documents and communications.
This can make disputes more complicated because establishing precisely what was agreed becomes an evidential issue.
Useful evidence could include:
If there is uncertainty about whether a contract exists or what its terms are, obtaining advice before taking further action can be particularly important.
The appropriate remedy will depend on the contract and what has happened.
Depending on the circumstances, potential outcomes can include:
Before terminating an agreement, withholding payment or taking another significant step, it is sensible to obtain advice. Taking action without understanding the contractual position can sometimes create a further dispute.
Compensation may be available where a contractual breach has caused financial loss, but the recoverability and value of a claim depend on the circumstances.
Issues can include whether the loss was caused by the breach, whether the loss is legally recoverable and whether reasonable steps were taken to limit it.
We can help assess those issues before you decide whether pursuing the claim makes commercial sense.
Correspondence and negotiation can sometimes resolve a disagreement relatively quickly, particularly where both parties have an ongoing commercial relationship they want to preserve.
An independent mediator helps the parties explore a negotiated solution.
Civil mediation can be used for breach-of-contract and money disputes and can take place before or during legal proceedings. The Ministry of Justice describes mediation as a flexible and confidential process in which an independent mediator helps the parties negotiate towards an agreed solution.
Where a satisfactory agreement cannot be reached, it may be appropriate to issue court proceedings.
We can advise you on the risks, costs and potential outcomes before deciding whether litigation is proportionate.
Legal claims are subject to time limits.
The applicable deadline depends on matters including the circumstances and nature of the agreement, so you should not assume that you have plenty of time to take action.
Obtaining advice early also helps preserve evidence and can provide more opportunities to resolve the dispute before proceedings become necessary.
Do not ignore it.
Keep the correspondence and gather the contract and other relevant documents. If the letter or court document gives you a deadline, make sure your solicitor knows about it immediately.
We can assess the allegations, identify potential defences and advise you on how to respond.
If available, send us:
Don’t worry if you do not have everything. We can help identify what is important.
That depends on the nature and complexity of the dispute, the amount at stake, how the other party responds and whether proceedings become necessary.
We will explain the likely costs and risks and help you consider whether the proposed action is proportionate to what you are trying to achieve.
If a contract has gone wrong, early advice can help you understand your position before the disagreement escalates.
Our dispute resolution solicitors advise clients from our offices in Gloucester and Stroud or remotely, nation-wide.
Tell us what’s happened and we’ll help you understand your options.
To get in touch with our Commercial Disputes team you can use the contact form on this page, or reach out directly by clicking here. Alternatively, you can call us on 01453 847200.
I have nothing but praise for all of the people I have dealt with over the years. Nothing has been too much trouble and I would have no hesitation in recommending them.P. Browne
A very thorough and professional company. Always found staff to be very approachable, helpful and very clear in their explanations of all options available to me. Would strongly recommend WSP.D. Maton
WSP is the one-stop superstore for all your legal requirements. It is staffed with friendly, professional and expert people who are a pleasure to deal with. As a long term user of the company I always recommend WSP to all of my friends based on my own happy experience.D. Wilkins
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