Litigation is not very fun for a company. It’s like a dark rain cloud that just hangs over the place permanently until the matter is resolved. As you can imagine, that can be incredibly hard on morale and efficiency, which is even worse for the business. It’s entirely possible for the company to never quite come out of the fog of tension caused by litigation. This is why it is so important to know the finer points of the litigation process and exactly what it is that you can do to make things a bit better.
1. Know the Cost
While your main goal is to be victorious in your litigation, you should still consider the cost. With a tight budget and a uncertain variables, not every business can survive expensive litigation. It is advised to receive the overall cost, even if it is just a ballpark figure provided by the professional commercial litigation lawyer. This can help you plan accordingly and give you an idea of exactly what you will be needing to prepare yourselves for. It never hurts to have a little bit of insight into a situation, right?
2. Know the Strengths and Weaknesses
Honesty is the best policy, as they tend to say. You expect honesty from your commercial litigation team. Since you’re the one going through this entire ordeal and have so much on your plate already, you can at least ask for that much from your team, right? This means that you need to sit down and have a real heart to heart about the reality and gravity of the situation that you’re in, for better or worse. Remember, if it’s bad, you can always fight to improve the situation.
3. Know the Person in Charge of Your Litigation
There’s a good chance that your litigation team was represented by a person that earned your trust, who convinced you that they were the way to go if you want to make it out of this situation intact. Unfortunately, you will probably not be working with that person. Therefore, you need to find out who it is that you will be working with and get to know them a little. This can lead to better communication and understanding among your little team of litigation defenders.
4. Work Closely with the Firm
The key to winning is honesty. You need to really get in touch with the team and strike up a good amount of communication. This means telling them everything regarding your business. The strengths, the weaknesses, the triumphs, and the downfalls. This might be a bit of an uncomfortable position, especially where pride is concerned, but you shouldn’t look at it that way. This is you using the resources at your disposal to win the long game. It may feel bittersweet at the moment, but the victory you stand to achieve overshadows this by a great deal.
5. What is the Most Likely Outcome?
Rolling with the theme of honesty, you should really have a moment with your team to discuss what the odds of winning are. Should you be feeling a bit confident, or maybe begin to accept that a crushing loss is imminent? Don’t let them lie to you in order to spare you stress. Plainly explain that you do not need sugar coating, but hard facts so you can begin to prepare for what is to come. Remember, even a loss can be turned into a win with enough preparation time.
