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Despite the recent civil litigation reforms, going to court remains an expensive and daunting prospect. However, occasionally disputes are unavoidable. If you become involved in one the aim must be to resolve it quickly and as advantageously as possible. Those who insist on having their “day in court” need deep pockets and/or strong nerves and/or a lack of imagination – preferably a combination of all three. Almost by definition, the outcome of a true dispute is unpredictable. Both sides must think they stand a chance of winning or they would not continue the argument. Sadly, in court, only one side can win (apart from the lawyers of course!). We will take your case all the way to court if that is absolutely unavoidable and if we think you have a reasonable prospect of winning but we will always be looking for a settlement and we will look at alternative dispute resolution (see below).

Ian Holdsworth has a Masters Degree in advanced civil litigation from Nottingham Law School and can handle any civil dispute including:

·        Commercial disputes

·        Partnership disputes

·        Property disputes, including adverse possession claims

·        Injury claims (see under the separate heading)

Alternative dispute resolution

There are many other ways of settling disputes than by going to court. For example, most injury claims and a great many other civil disputes are settled by negotiation. Negotiation between the parties, often encouraged and/or conducted by their solicitors, frequently resolves disputes long before a case reaches trial. Too often, however, the parties simply cannot sort out their own dispute and need some outside, independent help. That’s where alternative dispute resolution comes in. The most common form of alternative dispute resolution is mediation, which is a form of “facilitated negotiation” using a mediator as an independent, neutral go-between to bring both sides together and get them talking. It allows for solutions to disputes that courts have no power to award and can often preserve rather than destroy the parties’ relationships. It is not a “soft option” and putting forward mediation as a method of settling a dispute is not a sign of weakness. Ian Holdsworth is an accredited commercial mediator. If On Legal is your solicitor, Ian cannot mediate in your dispute, but he understands the value of trying to sort out a dispute without going to trial and will always try to find a cheaper, quicker solution.

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