IT litigation

Sometimes litigation is necessary, even though you may do your utmost to avoid a dispute. If you are dealing with someone who is blatantly infringing on your rights, or who is making unreasonable demands, then litigation is unavoidable. Whatever the circumstances, it is important to remember that litigation is a business tool like any other, which has its place.

Whatever the reason for your involvement in a dispute, if an initial exchange of correspondence is not enough to clear up misunderstandings, you will need to decide whether to litigate or to allow yourself to be sued. If a dispute results in court proceedings, we will guide you through the complex maze of litigation, always working to achieve the best outcome for you.

Ideally disputes should be resolved as speedily as possible. If allowed to fester they tend to grow out of all proportion and waste valuable management time and resources. Where legal proceedings are unavoidable, the question of financing the litigation needs consideration. Generally you risk paying your opponents' costs if they win, as well as your own, whereas if you win, your opponent is likely to be ordered to pay your costs. We will give you an estimate of the likely costs.

Litigation is often funded privately. Other ways it might be financed include:

1. Legal expenses insurance. For example existing policies may cover legal expenses.
2. Litigation insurance can sometimes be taken out either before or after proceedings are issued. This might cover your opponents' costs should you lose in the litigation. Sometimes you can obtain insurance to cover not only your opponents' costs but also your own. Premiums can be as high as 40 per cent of the likely costs of the litigation, depending on your chances of winning, and are recoverable from your opponents if have to pay your costs.
3. Your Employer or Trade Union may in some cases cover your legal fees.
4. Legal Aid may be available to you depending on your case, income and capital. We do not undertake this work.
5. Conditional or Contingency Fee Arrangements. This is sometimes known as a "No Win No Fee" arrangement. We do not currently offer such arrangements.

Normally our fees are calculated on an hourly basis and we invoice you at the end of each month for work undertaken during that month, although in certain types of dispute we may be able to offer a fixed fee arrangement.

We cover all matters relating to trademarks, copyright including anti piracy, domains, designs, patents and privacy laws. We also handle contract and technology disputes. Although we are a small firm, we have extensive contacts with other experts and can put together an effective team to handle most sizes of dispute, so please contact us for an initial consultation.