Litigation is, above all, a business issue. It must be seen in the context of a company’s overall business strategy, and pursued accordingly. Clients trust our Commercial and Contract Litigation group to handle their most problematic, high-exposure, or reputation-sensitive legal disputes in a practical, goals-oriented manner.
We have substantial experience in a broad range of legal areas, including antitrust, breach of contract, business torts, fraud, insurance and reinsurance, lender liability, restrictive covenants and trade secrets, sales of goods, and unfair competition. When the stakes are especially high—when complete command of every aspect of the case is essential—our litigators have the legal acumen and business sophistication to fit the right approach to the strategic need.
Taking a Business-Centric Approach
Our clients rely on us to ask them the right questions—to probe for the ultimate business objective—before planning a litigation or responding to a pre-litigation demand. What’s at stake financially? How much discovery is required? Will operations be disrupted? Will this create an unfavourable precedent or lead to more litigation? What’s the reputational or regulatory risk? Will a pending transaction be affected? Only when we have a complete set of answers do we move forward with a case.
Assuming a Trial
Our reputation as skilled trial lawyers precedes us. Our litigators, who include former federal and state prosecutors and former in-house counsel, assume every dispute is headed for trial. That assumption informs our preparation and works to our client’s benefit even if the case never sees a courtroom. The best path to a good settlement is to convince the other side they’re in for a fight.
Drawing on Cross-Disciplinary Resources
Our litigators often pair up with thought leaders in our firm’s other disciplines (health care, employee benefits, and employment, labor, and workforce management, among others) to make sure that every angle of a client’s dispute is evaluated and that all issues—whether obvious or unapparent—are resolved. Our ability to quickly mobilize needed resources and to approach each case in a strategic manner also helps us resolve our clients’ disputes efficiently and cost-effectively.
Avoiding Litigation
For too many companies, serial litigation—the same types of claims over and over—is a fact of corporate life. We work with our clients to find effective ways to reduce these lawsuits or eliminate them altogether. We analyze past claims to identify the weak spots in contracts and the hazards in certain statutes. From that learning, we suggest ways to alleviate problem areas through policy changes and employee training. In bringing much-needed consistency to our clients’ litigation, we significantly lower their vulnerability to repetitive claims.
