Litigation (the act of being a party to Court proceedings of some sort or another) is increasingly becoming part of every day business life.
Both individuals and organisations can litigate at a cost.
A party who brings an action is called a ‘Plaintiff’ or 'Claimant' and the person defending a ‘Defendant’. It could relate to, e.g., a claim for breach of contract, a claim for defamation because someone has published something untrue or a claim to prevent a particular course of action.
Make no bones about it, Litigation is hugely expensive at a number of levels, whichever party you may happen to be and whatever the subject matter – and it is mightily stressful too.
The problem with the Court system of any jurisdiction is there are no guarantees of success in Litigation. Thus throughout the process one lives with the risk that regardless of one’s perceived view of the strength of one’s case, if the claim or defence is unsuccessful one may be liable for one’s own costs as well as the other party’s and the Court’s. As such defeat can (and very often does) create an existential threat to businesses.
It may thus make sense only to only litigate if a specialist (usually a lawyer) has confirmed in writing that you have a 75% plus chance of winning, or if you can secure a ‘No Win, No Fee’ arrangement with a lawyer willing to waiver their fees if the claim is unsuccessful but take an uplifted % of your damages if it is a success.
Equally, always check relevant insurance policies just in case they cover the facts of the dispute to hand as its amazing how often such coverage is missed. Though dealing with insurers and persuading them to accept responsibility for costs can be a drama all of its own and extend the period to claim considerably.
And even if there is 3rd party cost or claim management coverage, bear in mind that you will need to commit an extraordinary amount of corporate time and energy to the case to see it through. Many litigants report that this alone has affected their work and health immeasurably and irretrievably.
Plus, you are putting the outcome of the matter in the hands of a third party – a judge or in certain cases, a jury. Are you really comfortable with this? Is your judgement being led by prudence or emotion? If the latter, it is worth taking a step back to view the merits on the whole.
Have you, for example, considered that you might feasibly have to place an adverse cost provision in your business accounts and how that will reflect on your business performance, particularly if public filing of those accounts is required? Or what impact any press reporting of the case may have on your brand?
And litigation by its very nature involves arguing about events of the past that have already occurred for what can amount to a period of months if not years (if, e.g., the case is complex, there are court delays or an initial Court ruling in your favour is appealed), rather than positively focusing on the future – not great for any organisation pursuing growth.
So, while the decision as to whether to litigate is ultimately down to the individual or organisation in question, there is no such thing as a ‘quick win’ and we would recommend careful review and full acknowledgement of risks first, to include an exploration of viable alternatives such as voluntary settlement or mediation.
A number of our previous posts may assist you – see “5 Key Steps to Stressbusting™ Decision Making”, “The Dangers of Denial to Stressbusting™”, “Have a ‘Plan B”, “The Relationship between Toxicity & Stressbusting™”, "Stressbusting™ Techniques to Manage & Calm Overwhelm" and “ENERGY : The Most Precious Stressbusting™ Commodity in Life”.
If you can relate to the contents of this post and would like us to assist further or make an introduction to a specialist who might be able to as appropriate, feel free to reach out to us in confidence via our "Contact" page.
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