San Diego Business Litigation Attorney

San Diego Business Litigation Attorneys

Businesses don’t look for litigation, but an awful lot of litigation finds businesses. Once the threat of litigation pops up, the life of the business owners and management become considerably more anxious, the future becomes more uncertain, and the workload increases. And these things all happen regardless of whether the business is being sued or is doing the suing.

Ask any business person who has been through the litigation jungle, and they will all tell you that there is no magic way to avoid the grief, but you can reduce it to manageable size by getting the help of experienced attorneys who understand the nature of the business involved and the law underlying the dispute.

Consulting a California business lawyer immediately upon suspecting that litigation is looming ahead gives the lawyer the most options for helping you, and avoids inadvertently running afoul of deadlines or other technical requirements. It also lets an experienced pair of eyes decide what documents and records you will need from your own business, and what documents and records you will need to obtain from the other business by means of discovery.

Time, Cost, and Disruption of Business

Business litigation is time-consuming, costly, and will have detrimental effects on most areas of the business. In all cases, you have to analyze what documents (including electronic information) needs to be preserved in preparation for the litigation. That means information that may be subject to discovery by the opposing side, as well as information you will need for your side of the case.

Actual or threatened litigation can also affect your staff morale, your longstanding relationships with other businesses, your reputation in the community, your creditworthiness, and, in the worst case scenario, your ability to survive as a business.

Economics of Business Litigation

Apart from your own immediate costs for legal advice, identifying and preserving documents, and so on, you need to understand the basic economics that shape business litigation. That means the many economic factors that often play just as large role in settlement negotiations as the underlying legal issues (it may not help to be right if you can’t afford to prove that you’re right). These include:

• The financial condition of both your business and of the opposing party; that directly affects the ability to carry on expensive litigation for lengthy periods
• If your business is the one suing, how much can you realistically expect to recover in damages if the case goes to court?
• If your business is the defendant (the one being sued), what is the realistic range of possible damages you may be required to pay if the case goes to court?
• Any insurance that may be applicable to the subject of the dispute (this varies widely depending on the subject of the dispute)
• Will protracted litigation have increasingly negative effects on the profitability of the business?

Business Litigation Covers a Lot of Ground

Modern business life exposes the business to a very broad array of activities, each of which can result in disputes serious and costly enough to pose at least the threat of litigation. No list could be exhaustive; these are typical:

• Breach of contacts and any number of different kinds of contracts (real estate, employment, purchase and/or sale, construction, and many more)
• Intellectual property disputes (copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets)
• The need to pursue or defend against collection of a claimed debt
• Claims of unfair trade practices, including government agency claims of monopolization, price-fixing, and the like
• Disputes involving owners, shareholders, partners, and similar stakeholders of the business

Get Help

There’s very little that’s simple when it comes to business litigation. Experience matters, and trusting your attorneys is the best way to sleep at night while the dispute works its way to the end. The Boyd Law Firm in San Diego has a record of success in all types of business litigation, the desire to build long term relationships and the determination to see that our clients get what they deserve. Call us for a free consultation on the best way to proceed with your case. We know that negotiated settlement is usually best, but we know how to litigate whenever necessary.