Disputes & Litigation

If it can’t be avoided then plan and control the steps

When an overseas manufacturer gave notice of termination of a distribution agreement to our client we were asked to review the termination fee clauses in the agreement and advise how much our client was entitled to.

Somehow the manufacturer came up with a much lower amount. We confirmed our advice and engaged with the Manufacturer’s lawyers to point out the errors with their interpretation and calculations. When this didn’t achieve a result we proposed a mediation or use of an expert to reduce costs for our client. All to no avail, the Manufacturer and its lawyers had a “take it or leave it” attitude. With no commercial options left we had to go to the Courts. We gave our client a roadmap of the steps involved and a detailed fee estimate including those of our carefully chosen Counsel to appear in Court. Good planning meant that we hit all of our timelines and the fees were on budget. Eventually the Court decided that the proper payment was 98.5% of what we had claimed. Our client received payment of the proper fee and recovered its Court costs from the Manufacturer.