In most cases, our litigation lawyers assist clients with the following steps prior to the filing of a law suit. If handled correctly, a settlement is often reached, thereby eliminating the need for protracted litigation.
- When a dispute arises between two parties, usually one party will make a demand to the other party of what will be required to resolve the matter. The other party will receive the demand and may respond to the demand. If the parties are willing to negotiate, the demand may lead to informal discussions that may lead to a resolution of the matter. Our litigation lawyers can help you assess whether what you are requesting or offering is a rational demand, and help you prevent making admissions that can hurt you if you can’t agree on terms during this step. In practice, when parties of a dispute are not represented by lawyers in this step, the parties volunteer information which is later admissible.
- The second step is normally taken when a dispute cannot be resolved amongst the parties without the aid of a lawyer. We advise you to hire a litigation lawyer when taking this step, for your litigation lawyer will ensure that no information shared in this step will be used against you in a court of law. In this step, one party has an attorney send a lawyer’s demand letter. The lawyer’s demand letter will typically get a serious response from the other side that may lead to a settlement or to settlement discussions.
- If the demand letter led to settlement discussions, then both parties are addressing the dispute rationally and an amicable resolution may still be attainable. In this step the parties will enter into informal settlement discussions that will involve the parties and their lawyers. Often the parties will be able to resolve the matter with letters and phone calls between their lawyers, thereby avoiding the hardships of a law suit.