Your customers are the life blood of your business so when a dispute arises it is important to resolve it quickly and where possible without damaging any ongoing relationship. In deciding how to proceed you need to be mindful of your contractual obligations, your commercial objectives and any statutory rules which operate to enhance your customer rights or to control your dispute resolution options.
Our lawyers are here to guide you through the process and to ensure your interests remain protected.
Resolving customer disputes
When your customer is another business you will generally have a free rein when it comes to deciding how disputes should be tackled. This means that unless the contract between you provides otherwise all options are on the table and it will be for us to agree the approach that will work best.
Normally we will suggest that you start by using your internal complaints procedure before moving onto mediation, arbitration or court proceedings depending on the issues that need to be resolved, whether your customer ‘ s complaint has merit and the state of your current relationship.
When your customer is a consumer the position is a little more complicated as most consumer rights are prescribed by law and you may be obliged to use an ombudsman scheme. Alternatively, if you have an online presence you may be asked to use the online dispute resolution platform operated by the European Commission.
How can IMD Solicitors help?
Our dispute resolution lawyers can help by providing you with commercially sensible advice which aims to achieve a resolutions as quickly as possible.
The service we provide is extensive and covers disputes appear out of:
- defective goods or digital content claims which raise questions about a customer ‘ s right to request a refund or to insist on free repair or replacement;
- allegation of substandard or incomplete service provision which raise questions about a customer’s right to insist on repeat performance or to claim some or all of their money back.
- non-performance claims where you have been unable to deliver what was promised and the customer is threatening you with an injunction;
- claims of overcharging where an agreed price for goods or services was not settled in advance;
- debt collection on overdue accounts where there is an unresolved complaint;
- insolvency proceedings of your customer which may result in you having to settle for less than you are owned;
- jurisdictional issues where your customer is based abroad and you want dispute resolution efforts to take place here;
- alleged infringement of consumer protection laws in business-to-consumer contracts;
- alleged infringement of sale of goods and supply of services legislation in business-to-business contracts; and
- alleged infringement of unfair contract terms legislation.
- debt recovery — undisputed, unpaid invoices.
Why choose IMD Solicitors?
Our team of dispute resolution solicitors have years of combined experience in dealing with customer disputes and an impressive track record in achieving commercially sensible solutions in a short space of time.
We are particularly well known for our ability to strike deals in complex breach of contract disputes, in non-performance claims where significant compensation or an injunction is being sought and in jurisdictional disputes arising out of cross-border transactions.
We are also highly regarded for the time we take to get to know your business so that as well as resolving disputes we can signpost you to other legal services you may benefit from, such as help with drafting commercial contracts , employment law issues and intellectual property protection.
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List of notable dispute resolution cases
- Multi-jurisdictional dispute involving international consortium of corporate shareholders of a Saudi oil and gas subsidiary, involving allegations of fraud and breaches of contractual obligations. Liquidation of the subsidiary was sought by a proportion of shareholders. Settlement was reached between all and liquidation successfully prevented.
- Dual-jurisdictional dispute involving essentially a battle between conglomerate of companies, with proceedings lodged with various courts across two jurisdictions involving complex jurisdictional and commercial matters.
- Claim against international plc involving defending allegations of fraud. Concluded successfully and saved the Client from insolvency.
- Acting for a Claimant in a dispute with a global payment processing institution, involving misconduct allegations and challenge to jurisdiction. Case settled at over 80% of the amount claimed despite initial arguments and denial by the institution.
- Defended a breach of contract claim involving a cross-border supply of goods. Using strong defence arguments but preserving our client’s commercial position, we managed to resolve the matter through a reduction of the main claim by 75% and potential costs liability by 80%.
- Acted for a construction company in a claim to recover an unpaid contractual fees. Judgment in favour of the Client secured a trial despite little documentary evidence available and relying mostly on witness evidence.
- Represented a company Director in a successfully defended claim involving allegations of fraud and breach of fiduciary duties
- Acting for a claimant in a construction dispute. The matter proceeded to trial where the Claimant successfully obtained a judgement for the full amount.
- Acting for a defendant who failed to file a defence and had default judgement entered against him prior to instructing our firm. The judgement was set aside and eventually the value of the claim was reduced by 75%.
- Acting for a creditor in a reported High Court case relating to enforcement of a foreign judgement in the UK. Successfully defended an application by a debtor to declare the judgement unenforceable.
- Regularly acting for a group of companies dealing with medical equipment manufacturing and worldwide distribution. Assisting with both contentious and non-contentious cases ranging from commercial and employment to GDPR compliance.
- Represented a Client in a complex shareholders’ dispute concluded by the way of agreement and voluntary liquidation of the company.
- Acting for the UK based construction company in a dispute with a contractors. Settled the claim for circa. 90% of the amount originally claimed.
- Pursuing a claim against a firm of solicitors who have provided our client with negligent advice. Successful recovery of circa 80% of the loss incurred.
- Acting for a large meat supplier in a dispute with the distributor arising due to faulty product being introduced earlier in the supply chain.
- Successfully defending a client from committal to prison, in a private prosecution brought by the insurers of a third party following a road traffic collision.
- Acting in a dispute with the main contractor on a construction project. Successfully recovered our client’s losses incurred as a result of the main contractor and successfully defended all counterclaims that were brought against our client.
- Acting for an investor in a dispute with a trading company. Successfully obtained a judgment for the sums deducted from the client’s account by the trading company.
- Acting for a landlord in possession proceedings. Successfully obtained a court order for possession and evicted the tenant using the court appointed bailiff.
- Acting for a claimant in a Professional Negligence matter, successfully settling the case before trial
Awards and Accreditations
IMD in the Media
