Welcome to Einbinder, Dunn & Goniea, LLP’s New York Business Litigation Blog! As a New York City based law firm with a broad based commercial practice, we look forward to using this blog to share with you our own experiences, as well as general points of interest in this field of law. For this, our inaugural post, let’s dive right in and discuss the fundamentals of “business litigation.”
Generally, business (or commercial) litigation involves disputes between businesses. This type of litigation is civil (rather than criminal) and arises where a person or business entity has some type of legal issue with another business entity.
One of the most common types of business litigation in our practice involve contracts. It is the rare person, and even rarer business, that has not entered into a contract. Though there are many different types, from a “handshake agreement” to a written agreement spanning reams of paper, contracts are essentially legally binding agreements. Contracts may be written or oral, so long as they satisfy the elements of an enforceable contract. When things go according to plan – the goods are delivered on time and in the condition promised or the services are performed in a timely and competent manner – everyone receives the “benefit of their bargain” and walks away happy from their contract with expectations met. However, all too often – and as we see on a daily basis in our legal practice – that is not the case.
Contract disputes can arise where one party to a contract (or sometimes both parties) is accused of “breaching it” or not doing what they specifically agreed to do. Disputes can also arise when the parties to a contract had different expectations of what each side was supposed to do – often the result of contract provisions that were inartfully drafted or open to interpretation. (Though this later scenario can often be preempted with well-written legal documents at the outset of the business relationship.) While a contract is obviously important to guide the parties during the course of their business relationship, it can prove equally or even more important when the parties’ business relationship falls apart in establishing what was supposed to happen and whether the contract terms were met.
When disputes arise with respect to contracts, you should preferably look for guidance from counsel well-versed in contract law and business litigation. We invite you to learn more about our Commercial and Business Litigation and Disputes practice and look forward to continuing our primer on common types of business litigation in our next post. Until next time …