Dispute Positioning

The strongest position is built before the dispute begins.
Most commercial disputes are decided by what happened in the weeks before anyone mentioned lawyers — what was said, what was written, what was preserved, and who understood their position first. We provide strategic pre-dispute counsel: protecting your position, minimising commercial exposure, and steering matters toward resolution on your terms — ideally without a courtroom ever entering the conversation.

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What we cover

Early position assessment

A clear, honest read of where you stand: the strength of your contractual position, your realistic outcomes, and what each path costs — commercially, not just legally.

Positioning and correspondence strategy

From the moment a relationship turns difficult, everything you write matters. We shape your communications so you build your position rather than undermine it — without escalating what doesn't need escalating.

Breach and termination advice

Whether you're facing a breach or considering ending a contract: your rights, the correct process, and the traps (wrongful termination chief among them) that turn a strong position into a weak one.

Settlement and resolution strategy

Negotiated outcomes, mediation and structured settlement — resolving matters commercially, confidentially and at a fraction of the cost of formal proceedings, wherever that serves you better.

Exposure management

When a dispute is unavoidable, minimising what it touches: ring-fencing the commercial relationship where possible, protecting your reputation, and keeping the rest of your business out of it.

Working with litigators when needed

If a matter must go to formal proceedings, we help you enter them from the strongest possible position and coordinate with litigation counsel — so nothing built in the early stages is wasted.

How we work

Disputes are commercial problems before they're legal ones, and we treat them that way: clear-eyed about outcomes, honest about costs, and focused on the result that serves your business — not the fight for its own sake. Discreet, strategic and always on your side of the table. Fees agreed and scoped to the matter.

Frequently asked questions

When should I get advice — now, or when it's officially a dispute?

Now. The single biggest factor in dispute outcomes is how early the stronger party started preparing. Advice at the first sign of trouble is worth many times the same advice after positions harden.

Can most disputes be resolved without going to court?

The substantial majority of commercial disputes settle — and the terms of settlement usually reflect who was better positioned. Our focus is getting you resolution on strong terms, with formal proceedings as leverage rather than destination.

The other side has breached our contract. Can I just terminate?

Sometimes — but terminating wrongly can turn their breach into yours. The right to terminate, and the process for doing it, need checking before you act, not after.

What if the matter does go to court?

Then you'll enter it well-positioned — and we'll work alongside litigation counsel so the strategy, evidence and positioning built early carries through.

Will this damage the business relationship?

Handled well, early positioning often *saves* relationships — clarity and structure de-escalate more disputes than they inflame. Ignoring problems is what usually kills the relationship.

Get ahead of it

A free, confidential consultation — tell us what's happening, and we'll tell you where you stand.

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