Question 1

What actually happens in a commercial dispute?

Accepted Answer

Far more negotiation than litigation — the overwhelming majority of commercial disputes **settle**, and the ones that reach a trial are a small fraction. Understanding the process matters mostly because it shapes what your position is worth at each stage.

**The sequence:**

**The dispute arises**, usually over scope, quality, payment or termination.

**Correspondence**, where much is won or lost. **Write as though a judge will read it**, because one might — intemperate emails become evidence, and "without prejudice" only protects genuine settlement discussions, not everything you label.

**A letter before action**, setting out the claim, the basis and what you want.

**Pre-action protocols**, which require parties to exchange information and consider alternative dispute resolution **before** issuing. Ignoring them carries costs consequences even if you win.

**Alternative dispute resolution**, most commonly mediation. **A neutral facilitates settlement without deciding anything**, it settles a large proportion of cases, it costs a fraction of trial, and courts expect you to have tried it — **unreasonable refusal to mediate can be penalised in costs.**

**Issuing proceedings**, if that fails.

**Disclosure**, where both sides produce relevant documents **including those that damage their own case**. This is frequently the point where cases settle, because the documents rarely support anyone's recollection.

**Witness statements and expert evidence.**

**Trial**, and judgment.

**Enforcement**, which is a separate problem — **winning a judgment is not the same as being paid**, and against a company with no assets it may be worth nothing.

**What drives the economics:**

**Costs generally follow the event** in England and Wales, so the loser pays a substantial proportion of the winner's costs — which makes litigation high-stakes and makes early settlement rational.

**Part 36 offers**, a formal settlement mechanism with cost consequences for a party who refuses and then fails to beat it. **This is the most powerful tactical tool available.**

**Time**, typically a year or more, consuming management attention throughout.

**What to do from the start:** keep contemporaneous records, preserve documents once a dispute is foreseeable, and take advice early rather than after the correspondence has hardened.

General information, not legal advice.

Question 2

What should actually be in your terms and conditions?

Accepted Answer

The terms that govern what happens when things go wrong — because when everything goes right, nobody reads them. A contract is a risk allocation document, and the clauses that matter are the ones

Question 3

How does business-to-business selling actually work?

Accepted Answer

Through a long, multi-person process in which the decision is rarely made by the person you are talking to — which is why techniques borrowed from consumer selling fail so consistently. What makes it

Question 4

What policies does a small business actually need?

Accepted Answer

Fewer than consultants suggest and more than most small businesses have — and the useful test is whether a policy answers a question that will otherwise be decided inconsistently, not whether it

Question 5

What do consumer rights rules require of an online seller?

Accepted Answer

Substantially more than selling in a shop — because distance selling adds a cancellation right that has nothing to do with the goods being faulty, plus specific information duties, and the penalties

Question 6

What should you check before signing a commercial lease?

Accepted Answer

Considerably more than the rent — because a commercial lease gives you far fewer protections than a residential tenancy, and several standard terms can cost more than the rent itself over the term.

Question 7

How do you close a business properly?

Accepted Answer

Through a formal process appropriate to the structure and to whether the business is solvent — and the distinction between solvent and insolvent closure determines everything, including whether

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