Where business disputes usually start
Commercial disputes tend to grow out of performance problems, payment disagreements, the end of a distribution or supply relationship, or a fight among co-owners about control. The contract is usually the starting point, and many commercial agreements governed by New York law include choice-of-law and forum clauses, jury waivers, limits on damages, and notice-and-cure provisions that shape what each side can do next. New York law also lets parties to larger commercial agreements choose New York law, and in many cases New York courts, even when the deal has little other connection to the state. Getting these terms right in your first response often avoids a mistake that becomes expensive later.
Keeping the business running during the dispute
A business dispute is often fought while the companies still depend on each other. Before you stop paying or performing, consider whether the contract permits it, since suspending your own obligations can turn you into the party in breach. Preserve purchase orders, invoices, delivery records, and the communications about the problem, and pause routine deletion that might affect them. Where money or goods are at risk of disappearing, courts can sometimes grant interim relief, but the standards are demanding and the request needs solid evidence behind it. Thinking through what you need from the counterparty over the coming weeks helps decide whether to negotiate, mediate, arbitrate, or sue.
What we work through first
In a first meeting about a commercial dispute, we read the governing agreements with you, identify any steps required before a claim can be filed, and look at deadlines in the contract and in the law. If the matter is likely to be litigated in New York state court, we discuss whether it would belong in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court, the business part that hears qualifying cases in a number of counties. We compare the cost of each route with what is at stake and with the value of the continuing relationship. Some clients want an exit and a payment; others want the relationship to continue on clearer terms. The plan follows from that choice.
