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Home / Services / Commercial disputes

Business disputes. Resolved commercially.

Contract rows, unpaid invoices, partnership fallouts. We weigh cost against benefit at every step, because winning badly is still losing.

Outline my dispute Call 020 7063 9040
FREE CASE REVIEW Your position and prospects, before you spend
COMMERCIAL FIRST Settlement where it pays, court where it counts
Solicitors Regulation Authority
REGULATED Solicitors Regulation Authority — No. 605949
SAME-DAY REPLY A solicitor's view the day you ask for it
HOW IT WORKS

How we resolve a dispute

Escalation is a choice, not an accident. You see the numbers before every next step.

1
DAY 1 Free case review

Send the contract and the story. We'll tell you where you stand, what you could realistically recover, and whether it's worth pursuing.

2
WEEK 1 Letter before action

A good letter resolves a surprising number of disputes: the claim, the evidence, and a deadline that means something.

3
IF NEEDED Negotiation & mediation

Most disputes settle. We negotiate from prepared positions, and mediate where that gets a better deal for less.

4
LAST RESORT Court, with conviction

If the other side won't move, we issue and run the claim properly, costs budgeted against recovery at every stage.

A solicitor talking two parties through a settlement document across a boardroom table
THE COST–BENEFIT RULE

Before every escalation you get the same one-page view: likely cost, likely recovery, likely time. Then you decide.

OUR FEES

Costs that answer to the outcome

Litigation costs should be controlled, not discovered. You get a budget at the start, and a go/no-go decision before every escalation.

WHAT YOU CAN COUNT ON
A free initial case review, before you spend anything
A costs budget, set at the start and reviewed at each stage
Staged go/no-go decisions — you approve every escalation
Recovery-first thinking, costs weighed against what's winnable
A named solicitor, senior enough to make the judgement calls
Funding options explained, where your case suits them

Bring the contract, the key emails and a timeline to your first call: the better the picture, the sharper the advice.

FREE CASE REVIEW Outline your dispute

Tell us what happened and what you're owed. A dispute solicitor will call you back the same working day.

Outline my dispute → Free review · Same-day reply
SRA price transparency

What we charge

This work is quoted per matter, so we do not publish a fee range for it — the scope varies too much for a range to mean anything. Our hourly rates, and what every quotation covers, are on our fees & service information page. You get a written, itemised quotation with an exact figure before instructing us.

See our fees & service information →
WHAT WE COVER

Commercial disputes we handle

First question, every time: what outcome is worth what cost. Then we go and get it.

Outline my dispute →
Contract disputes

Broken agreements, missed deliverables, quality rows. We establish your position fast and push for the commercial fix.

Breach · Termination · Damages
Unpaid invoices & debt recovery

From a firm letter through to judgment and enforcement, kept proportionate so chasing the debt still makes sense.

Demands · Claims · Enforcement
Partnership & shareholder disputes

Deadlock, exits and unfair prejudice. We protect your stake and, where it's worth saving, the business itself.

Deadlock · Exits · Unfair prejudice
Professional negligence

When bad advice cost you money, we build the claim on what the loss actually was, not what it feels like.

Advisers · Valuers · Contractors
Commercial property disputes

Dilapidations, rent arrears, break notices and possession, on either side of the lease.

Dilapidations · Arrears · Break notices
Supplier & agency disputes

Distribution, agency and supply-chain conflicts, handled without wrecking a relationship worth keeping.

Supply · Agency · Distribution
PICK THE RIGHT FORUM

The resolution ladder — and what each rung costs

Court is usually the slowest and most expensive way to resolve a business dispute. The skill is matching the forum to the fight: what's at stake, how fast you need it settled, and whether the relationship matters.

1
Negotiation, on paper

A letter before action sets out the claim, the evidence and a deadline with consequences. It settles more disputes than every other rung combined, and it's required before court anyway.

DAYS–WEEKS RELATIONSHIP INTACT
2
Mediation

A day around the table with an independent mediator, without prejudice: nothing said can be used later. Most disputes that reach it settle, at a fraction of trial cost, and courts penalise parties who unreasonably refuse to try.

WEEKS CONFIDENTIAL
3
Arbitration & expert determination

A private tribunal whose decision binds both sides — often required by the contract, and worth choosing where confidentiality or technical expertise matters. Check your dispute clause before anyone starts a claim.

MONTHS PRIVATE & BINDING
4
Court

Public, binding and enforceable: for when the other side won't engage, you need an injunction, or the principle matters. Typically nine to eighteen months to trial; the mechanics are on our civil litigation page.

9–18 MONTHS FULL COSTS REGIME
OWED MONEY BY ANOTHER BUSINESS?

Late payment: the law is already on your side

On business-to-business debts, late-payment legislation adds statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, fixed compensation on every overdue invoice, and your reasonable recovery costs — automatically, unless the contract substitutes a real alternative.

It changes the arithmetic of a demand letter. It's the first thing we calculate on every recovery file, and it can reach back years.

FALLING OUT WITH A CO-OWNER?

Partnership & shareholder exits, in order

The paperwork first. A shareholders' agreement or partnership deed usually scripts the exit: valuation, notice, who buys whom.
No paperwork? Default rules apply — for partnerships, a 19th-century statute that can mean equal shares and dissolution at will, whatever anyone intended.
The remedies. Negotiated buy-outs resolve most fallouts; unfair-prejudice petitions and winding-up are the court's levers when they don't. Move early: deadlock drains value by the month.

Bring the agreement and the latest accounts to the free review; they decide the strategy.

YOUR SOLICITOR

A straight talker in your corner

Disputes are decided by preparation and judgement: when to push, and when the deal on the table is the win.

Meet the whole team →
Jasmine Chaudry
YOUR SOLICITOR Jasmine Chaudry PARTNER · LITIGATION & CONVEYANCING

A straight-talking senior solicitor across litigation and property, with a firm grip on the cost–benefit as well as the argument.

Rated 4.7 out of 5 by our clients.

Across ReviewSolicitors and Trustpilot, from clients with matters like yours who would come back.

GOOD TO KNOW

Commercial dispute questions people ask us

The questions we hear most, answered straight. For anything else, call us.

Call 020 7063 9040

That's the first thing we tell you, free. It turns on the strength of your case, what the other side can actually pay, and what it costs to get there. Sometimes the honest answer is no.

FREE CASE REVIEW

Outline it today.
Know where you stand.

Send a few details and a dispute solicitor will review your position and call you back the same working day.

LONDON — HEAD OFFICE 2nd Floor, 2–5 Minories, London EC3N 1BJ · 020 7063 9040
LEICESTER — BRANCH 3rd Floor, St George's House, 6 St George's Way, LE1 1QZ · 0116 393 0334
EMAIL & HOURS info@wslegal.co.uk · Monday–Friday, 9:00am–6:00pm
One firm, full service

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