Dispute Resolution Lawyers

Disputes happen all the time in business and we work with companies of all sizes, from general disagreements to contract disputes, insolvency and more.

If your company is experiencing some form of business dispute our dispute resolution lawyers can provide the advice you need. 

Our dedicated business dispute lawyers provide a range of disputes services including:

• Contract Disputes
• Company Recovery & Insolvency
• Company Restoration Advice
• Data Protection Breach
• Director Disputes
• Debt Recovery
• Intellectual Property Disputes
• LLP & Partnership Disputes
• Liquidations
• Professional Negligence Claims
• Shareholder Disputes

Our dedicated landlord & tenant dispute lawyers provide services including:

Commercial Landlord and Tenant

• 1954 Act business tenancy litigation
• Rent and service charge arrears including issues of tenant insolvency
• Possession proceedings
• Insolvency advice to property clients, negotiating with administrators and liquidators.
• Advice concerning defective premises and construction disputes
• End of Lease and dilapidations disputes
• Contractual disputes including mistake, misrepresentation, rectification, enforcement of option agreements etc
• Advice concerning practical solutions to property problems such as peaceable re-entry and other self-help remedies
• Residential Landlord and Tenant

Residential Landlord and Tenant:

• Tenants have stopped paying their rent.
• Damage to the property or disruptive behaviour.
• Dispute with the letting agents.
• Tenant eviction.
• Service charge and insurance claims.

Whether you are a landlord, commercial tenant or land owner, in the event of a dispute our experience covers a range from the complex and high value to the more modest. We represent clients in the courts, property tribunals, in adjudication and use alternative dispute resolution procedures, including mediation, to resolve disputes. We understand your concerns to avoid the expense and distraction that disputes can bring and we will work with you to find a solution to your problem.

Our approach is tailored to you to provide an effective strategy. We have a dedicated team of dispute lawyers with a range of expertise and experience dealing with property disputes.

Property Dispute Expertise:

• Property Disputes
• Construction Disputes
• Land Disputes
• Landlord & Tenant Disputes
• Restrictive Covenants 

Our specialist lawyers can advise you on all types of disputes relating to Wills, Trusts and Estates. Our lawyers offer a range of services including:

• Disputing the validity of a Will
• A lack of testamentary capacity
• If you have been left out of a Will

If the Executor or Trustee has not acted properly or is accused of not acting properly, as well as issues the Executors/Trustees may have in (a) dealing with the demands of beneficiaries as to the disposal of Estate assets and / or (b) disputes between Executors / Trustees that has resulted in a total impasse in being able to carry out their proper duties.

A poorly drafted Will can create uncertainty concerning the intentions of the deceased as to how their assets were to be distributed. This can lead to arguments as to whether the Will is valid and potential challenges as to what it means or who was actually included in e.g. a class of beneficiaries.

With people now living longer and the increase of dementia and other diseases, there are now more incidents of Wills being challenged on grounds of lack of the appropriate mental capacity.

Family Inheritance Disputes
In most cases where a dispute over a Will occurs (typically between family members) it is best to seek to resolve any disputes amicably. We can assist in such negotiations including seeing if a formal mediation process involving the disputing parties can bring about a resolution. Where this is not possible, court action might be the only alternative.

Blended families – i.e. parties to second marriages with children from their respective first marriages – has fast become a difficult scenario to manage in the context of who gets what from the Estates when the parties to the second marriage die. Consequently there are more disputes cropping up and an even greater need to get legal advice as early as possible.

Whether you are an office holder, a creditor, a director, debtor, shareholder or a holder of security. Our Insolvency Dispute Lawyers can assist with pragmatic and commercial advice about seeking the recovery of assets in an insolvency situation.

Our services to office holders included advising on asset recovery and the pursuit of book debts. We can help you obtain information from former directors explaining how the company became insolvent and what happened to the assets. We can assist liquidators in pursuing directors and shadow directors for breaches of their director’s duties and shareholders, directors and associated parties in respect of preferences. We can assist in the unwinding of transactions at an undervalue.

Our expertise is also called upon by parties being pursued by liquidators claiming that there has been an unlawful dissipation of assets – and seeking the recovery of funds into the liquidation. Whether the claim is an allegation of misfeasance claims, or that there has been a preference, a transaction at an undervalue or an unlawful distribution of dividends, we will undertake a swift assessment of the legal and commercial issues. We will assist in negotiating with office holders based on the risk and where appropriate defend the claims being threatened.

We recognise that insolvency events can also throw up deeply contentious issues including fraudulent trading or other types of fraud. Our Contentious Insolvency Team have a broad range of experience acting for office holders and directors when making or facing claims involving allegations of dishonesty.

We also have experience dealing with injunctive relief in insolvency situations, whether that is dealing with freezing orders, search and seizure orders, Norwich Pharmacal Orders or information disclosure applications within the Insolvency Act 1986, we are adept at providing immediate and proactive advice and representation for such interim remedies. Our Contentious Insolvency Team has a track record of helping parties navigate the fallout from an insolvency event.

Our contentious insolvency services include:

• Allegations of fraud and dishonesty
• Breach of director’s duties
• Director Misfeasance
• Enforcement of security
• Personal Insolvency: statutory demands and bankruptcy petitions
• Preferences
• Transactions at an undervalue
• Unlawful distributions of dividends
• Winding up petitions

Intellectual property (IP) disputes arise when individuals or entities clash over ownership or use of intangible creations like patents, trademarks, copyright and design rights. These conflicts involve the use, copying or unlawful exploitation without the proper permission from the right holder. The dispute may range from a simple exceeding of the terms of a software licence to a wholesale theft of the intellectual property. Resolution of the dispute may require little more than a timely intervention to bring the attention of the intellectual property right to the other party or it may involve obtaining interim injunctive relief. There will also be times when court action is required whether that be in the Intellectual Property List of the Chancery Division of the High Court or the Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court for claims up to £500,000

Our team of intellectual property dispute lawyers are here to help you. Our Dispute Resolution Team are highly experienced at being able to resolve disputes regarding intellectual property including claims, providing pragmatic and commercial advice to you.

You are entitled to expect a certain standard of care from the professionals who advise you. Whether that is a solicitor, accountant, financial adviser, architect or surveyor. Where the professional fails to perform to the standards required of them and you have suffered a financial loss, you may have a claim against them for professional negligence.

Cases of professional negligence often involve breaches of duty, where the professional fails to meet the expected standards, leading to financial, reputational, or personal damages for those affected. Legal recourse may be sought to address these instances and seek compensation for the losses incurred due to professional misconduct or negligence.

We can help with:

• Claims against Solicitors
• Claims against Accountants
• Claims against Surveyors
• Claims against Barristers
• Claims against Architects
• Claims against Financial Advisors 

Our Debt Recovery specialists have in-depth knowledge across a range of sectors. We use innovative ways to recover debts and market-leading case management. Clients recommend us for our approachability, range of options, service excellence and significant cost reductions.

Our International Legal Services support our network of clients and referrals worldwide. Herrington Carmichael has a diverse client-base covering multi-national organisations, entrepreneurial businesses and individuals, we regularly provide and coordinate advice on international legal projects across a range of jurisdictions.

Our services include:

• Disputes
• International Business Lawyers

• International Commercial Contract Lawyers

• Immigration Lawyers UK
• Expat Legal Advice

• UK & International Property Lawyers

• International Family Lawyers

The first question most people need to ask themselves – is the dispute worth it? For instance, It might not be worth making a claim if it is going to cost you almost as much as you’re claiming.

Mediation is a much faster and cheaper option than going to court. Mediation has been around a long time would be carried out at an agreed venue (a solicitors or a hotel, but not at court) with each side in separate rooms and the Mediator shuttling between rooms helping you find that compromise acceptable to you both.

If agreement is reached, that will be written down there and then, signed by both sides and can then be sent to the Court to be sealed. It will have the same authority as any other Court Order and as long as the agreed terms are then carried out, it brings the formal Court case to an end.

Speak to our mediators for more information.