Going to Court

In legal conflicts, sometimes aggression is required; we don’t simply mean to say “sue the bastard,” but, if you sense there can be no cooperation on the other side, litigation may be necessary to get their attention and to encourage them to focus. The Canadian Bar Association reports that of all the lawsuits initiated in Canada with the filing of pleadings, only 3% go to trial. This demonstrates how litigation should be used; to encourage negotiation and settlement.

While sometimes a principle has to be upheld, the pace of trial is slow and the process is costly. In matters of business, this pace can place a large strain on a business’ operations. At trial, you are governed by rules of evidence and relevance is subjectively applied with the ultimate decision given over to a third party judge or arbitrator. Litigation can lead to totally unpredictable results that tend to push the parties towards appeals, more delay and often with unrecoverable costs.