All of us have most likely been in a situation where a partner has acted in direct opposite to what was expected. In violence to an explicit contract or in violence to an obvious clear or less clear agreement. Despite which, the discrepancy from what was expected rarely is what is considered to be the worst. The lack of trust to the relationship that previous had your full faith, is often what is experienced being the worst.
In situations when it is not possible to speak with a counterparty, when a party have been sued at court, or when a party wants to sue a counterparty at court, I’m often engaged to represent persons or companies as their legal representative and/or as their mediator.
A great deal of the work then consists of clarifying the legal risks and possibilities arising from the conflict and situation in question. What a party considers having the right to, may have support by law, but it also happens that it is not fully supported by the law and/or that it is difficult to prove in court.
The work also consists of assisting with, waying the value of reaching a clear solution possible to execute in a reasonable near future by a conciliation, against the value of getting the full right executed in a none so foreseeable, costly and lengthy process at court.
There are many factors and scales to be considered and the longer the process proceeds the legal costs also have a greater impact.
The choice of how to proceed is therefore anything but simple, and it is also affected of what the counterparty is doing/not doing. How the conflict should be handled therefore constantly has to be adjusted and, what was considered be appropriate in the beginning of a process, may be something completely different from what is considered appropriate at a later stage. Something that often is not recognized is that, to choose to do nothing, also can be a choice of how you decide to proceed.
So, make sure to come to an agreement as soon as possible when conflicts arise, and with regards to your most important private and/or business-related relationships, make sure to clarify the expectations by preparing contracts and agreements in writing!
