There aren’t many things more frighteningas a business owner than having your business sued. It can feel like anexistential threat to the company, and certainly you’re going to be concernedabout how much it’s going to cost, and how long it’s going to take.

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Why companies are sued

It’s not that uncommon for businesses to besued, even the best businesses get sued and there are a multitude of reasonsthat it might happen, including:

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Liability:It’s impossible to negate all risks of liability (and that’s why businesses areadvised to take out insurance against the most likely risks). Liability canrange across the gamut, including product liability, property liability, cyberliability, business liability. If a customer or client is harmed whileinteracting with your business, you might be sued for this.

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Agreement Disputes: These can cover anything from payment issues to contractualdisputes, as well as shareholder disputes. These are the most common type ofdispute which arise in relation to business.

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Theft of Confidential Information: If confidential information is disclosed without authority from you– and that can mean anything from a cyber-attack to the physical removal ofpaper files by stakeholders and employees – then you could be sued for damagesby the aggrieved party.

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IP Claims: breachof intellectual property rights can include a range of issues such as similartrading name and logo to copying of procedures and processes. IP can be aminefield to navigate and its why organisations should always be careful toregister trademarks and only use assets that they have directly commissioned orlicensed.

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Employment Disputes: whether an employee is claiming that they have been underpaid orunfairly dismissed, employee claims can have a negative impact on the morale ofremaining employees. Care should be given to company procedures and complianceto avoid claims and fines.

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What to do when sued

If you’re a Sydney-based business that hasbeen served with lawsuit papers, the first thing you should do is contact theleading commercial lawyersin Sydney. They’ll review your case to determine the whether the claimhas a basis and formula a strategy to deal with the claim in an effective and cost-efficientmanner.

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Take great care if you wish to contact theplaintiff as some might view this as a sign of capitulation. A lawsuit is oftenthe result of a communication breakdown and where the relationship is at apoint where there is a level of animosity, it is best to allow the lawyers tohandle communication.

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Allowing us to manage your dispute willallow you to focus on the health of your business and ensure that all scenariosand outcomes are considered and help you to limit the fallout of a negativeoutcome.

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Before any claims befall your business, youshould consider having an obligation free consultation with us to discuss anylegal documents you should implement as well as asset protection for youpersonally and your business. Typically, a business owner will bear someliability should a lawsuit succeed, and you should not assume that yourinsurance agency is going to come through for you.

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Once we have assessed the lawsuit, we’llprovide you with recommendations, based on how valid we believe the complaintto be. We will never recommend fighting the claim all the way to the end ifthis can be avoided. The longer the lawsuit continues for, the more expensive,stressful and unpredictable it can become. This is why we call the area of law“dispute resolution” while other lawyers call it “litigation”.

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Being sued can cause immense distress andbe overwhelming, but the main thing to remember when speaking to us is that wewill always be honest and help take a commercial perspective on how to resolvethe dispute. Remember that this is about your business, and the path of leastresistance to an outcome will be better than digging in and potentially losing more.

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If you have been served with a lawsuit,contact the leading commerciallawyers Sydney has to offer today. At ABP, we have many years ofexperience in helping business owners protect themselves, their businesses, andtheir assets, and we can help you navigate through this enormously testingprocess to a positive outcome.

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