Establish the position before choosing the next move
We advise businesses facing commercial claims, threatened action or a relationship that has broken down. Our work begins with the agreement and the evidence, then addresses the route most likely to serve the client’s commercial objective.
A tested assessment
We establish what the contract requires, what happened and what the available records can prove. We examine entitlement, potential defences, time limits and the route for resolving the dispute. The assessment identifies weaknesses in your own position as well as those of the counterparty.
Our advice considers the value at stake, the cost of pursuing it and the practical prospects of recovery. A sound argument still needs a commercially defensible course of action.
Evidence that supports the argument
Important facts are often dispersed across correspondence, drawings, invoices, site records and successive versions of an agreement. We reconstruct the chronology, reconcile inconsistencies and identify the missing evidence that could change the assessment.
We organise the material into a reasoned claim or response, with a traceable basis for the factual assertions and the amounts advanced. Technical opinions on delay, construction quantum or engineering causation require appropriately qualified specialists.
Strategy and negotiation
We advise on what to seek, when to raise it and what should be secured before the next step. That can involve a targeted request for information, a formal pre-action letter, a reasoned response or a settlement proposal.
We prepare and conduct negotiations within the authority agreed with you. You retain the decision on whether to settle.
Representation
We prepare and represent clients in mediation, adjudication, arbitration and expert determination where the contract, applicable rules and law permit. We assess the forum before recommending the route and agree the scope and timetable before accepting the instruction.
For adjudication and arbitration, our work can cover commencement, written submissions, evidence and representation through to the decision or award. Expert determination instructions are prepared around the issue referred and the agreed procedure.
Where court work is required
For court proceedings, enforcement or applications relating to an arbitration, you instruct an authorised legal provider separately. We identify that need early and prepare a structured handover of the work completed within our agreed scope.