Strategy is vital
From the moment a client engages us, we start discussing strategies for their case. This is because a good strategy is fundamental and especially important in dispute cases. Without a strategy a dispute can turn into litigation and once on the litigation highway it can be difficult to get off.
Strategies come in all different forms and often a case will require short-term and long-term strategy. Strategies can also change as the matter progresses.
Whilst it seems like a simple notion, all too often we see people running cases who clearly don’t have a strategy in place and run their case in a reactive rather than proactive way which can have the effect of driving up costs for everyone involved and can hamper the progression and /or resolution of a case.
Some recent examples of strategies we have assisted clients with include:
- A client who was in dispute with his business partner in relation to a property development which was nearing completion but they couldn’t reach agreement on who was to undertake the final steps and the governing agreements were silent on who bore the obligation. The client didn’t want to go back and forth with endless correspondence and wasn’t keen on protracted litigation as that would delay the completion. The short-term strategy was to get the matter to a mediation, whilst setting the matter up for litigation in the event it couldn’t be settled at mediation (the long-term strategy). The long-term strategy wasn’t contrary to the client’s wishes, rather it was to prevent any additional delay if mediation wasn’t successful.
- A client was advised by a previous lawyer that it should give the other side unfettered access to its accounting records. Upon engaging us, we immediately (and successfully) put a proactive plan in place for discovery which meant that the competitor was only able access what it was entitled to see – not what it wanted to see.
- More recently one of our clients was sued (without so much as a letter of demand) in the Supreme Court of Victoria by a Plaintiff seeking damages to be paid in a crypto currency known as Ethereum. We were able to have the case dismissed. Crypto currencies are not actual currencies under Victorian law and there was an interesting point of law as to whether a Court can award damages in “Ethereum”.
At Tisher Liner FC Law, strategy is always at the forefront of our mind and developed in consultation with your key objectives. We don’t let the dispute run its own course, we proactively implement strategies to assist you in achieving your goals.
