Dispute Resolution & Litigation
Our experienced team of lawyers can assist you with resolving disputes, in and out of court. We can provide you with tailored advice and cost-effective solutions to help ease the stress involved in legal disputes.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) includes a number of processes used by people to resolve a dispute without going to court. ADR includes less formal processes, like sending letters of demand to someone who owes you money, or engaging in an informal settlement conference or mediation with the person you are in a dispute with. It also includes more formal procedures, like arbitrations, which resemble court processes in some ways but tend to be less formal and may have different rules.
Sometimes, you may have to participate in an ADR process, because a contract requires that a matter first go to mediation or arbitration before it can go to court. Similarly, it is common for parties to court proceedings to be directed to attend a mediation to try and resolve a dispute before a matter is allowed to be heard by a court.
Whether an ADR process is suitable may depend on the type of problem you are experiencing. However, there are advantages to ADR that court processes cannot provide. For instance, if you can negotiate with another person to resolve the dispute between you, you might find a solution that a court is unable to order. In addition, the less formal methods of ADR, such as mediation, are useful in preserving the relationship between parties, meaning that a working or other relationship might be able to continue. Many methods of ADR are also cheaper than going to court, where you may even end up paying another party’s legal costs.
Litigation
Even with the best of intentions, sometimes you might have no choice but to go to court to enforce your legal rights. When you find yourself in this situation it can be a stressful experience, whether you are bringing or defending proceedings.
Our experienced lawyers can assist you with drafting your claim, choosing the right jurisdiction, gathering and preparing evidence, and finding a barrister to appear if the matter goes to court.
We are skilled negotiators and advocates and can represent you for a range of dispute and litigation matters including:
- debt collection
- statutory demands, bankruptcy and insolvency matters
- estate litigation and family provision claims
- contract disputes
- company, partnership and shareholder disputes
- property and leasing disputes
- employment matters
- building and construction disputes
If you need assistance, contact one of our lawyers at lawyers@elliottstafford.com.au or call 03 9486 7555 for a no-obligation discussion and for expert legal advice.