A business litigator is a type of lawyer who focuses exclusively on business legal matters that could lead to litigation or going to court. Businesses can face a wide range of legal challenges, whether external (for example, product users suing a company for damage done by the product) or internal (disgruntled former employees suing, public companies having conflicts with shareholders). They either respond to litigation brought against the company they represent, or they help their company prepare legal action against other companies or people.
What Do Business Litigators Do?
Of course, business litigators act as attorneys for companies, either in the plaintiff or defendant roles. But there are many things they do before arriving in the courtroom. They do extensive research on the issue at hand, collecting and studying the evidence, interviewing witnesses and experts, and developing a legal strategy. They provide legal advice to their clients and confer with their legal teams on the best approach for the specific situation. They will keep current on relevant laws and regulations affecting the company they represent so they can provide appropriate guidance and counsel. They can also help companies prevent legal problems by looking at actions or communications the company wants to make and discovering if there are potential negative legal ramifications, and making recommendations to avoid those negative outcomes.
What Kinds of Cases Do Business Litigators Handle?
They work with nearly anything that can affect a business. That means contracts that are under dispute or have been breached, class action suits against a company, claims of negligence or fraud, intellectual property protection, issues around trade secrets, disgruntled employees, disputes between business partners or between company leadership and the board of directors or, if a public company, shareholders.
Do Business Litigators Always End Up in Court?
Just because a business litigator is working on a company case does not mean that case will end up in court. Part of what business litigators do is to work on negotiations to settle cases out of court. It’s not always in the best interests of the litigants to proceed to trial, so working with the opposing counsel to find mutually agreeable terms to avoid that case can play an important role. At other times they’ll work with mediators and arbitrators to handle the cases.
Let Us Advise You
If your company has need of a business litigator, call us at (463) 223-4943 to learn more about our business litigators and how we can provide assistance.