Businesses are not only hard to set up but also to run and continue without harming anyone. The world of business is extremely unpredictable and no amount of preparation will cover what the possible corporate disputes could be. For reference, however, one can refer to the following most common corporate disputes.
What are Corporate Disputes?
Corporate disputes are a type of dispute that arises during the regular course of conducting business. With so many components or people involved in making the business run on a day-to-day basis, there are bound to be issued. For instance, there could be corporate fraud, problems with employees, contract breaching, problems with the shareholders, etc. There can also be causes with other companies or competition, the Government, the community, and also the consumers on any cause. Since it is a workplace, these problems need to be settled in a proper way often leading to litigation. Also, if the issues are ignored and not settled in time, it can affect the efficiency of the company and profitability. Therefore, it becomes essential, as an entrepreneur, to be aware of common corporate disputes and how to settle them.
Causes for Corporate Conflicts
There are many causes for corporate conflicts that can possibly arise. To be able to concise all of them in one space is hard. However, there are some major issues that fall are handled by most corporate litigation law firm which has been described in short below.
Breach of Contract
As a company starts, there are a lot of contracts signed to get things up and running. There will be contracts with vendors, employees, consumers, competitors, the community, shareholders, and business partners among all. The parties to these contracts are expected to follow the contract, do as it states, and not do anything that can lead to a breach. When one or more parties to a contract have not upheld their part of a contract, it results in a breach of contract. The victim party can, here, sue for a breach of contract and seek adequate compensation or resolution. Most contracts will have clauses that will come into effect in case of a breach. However, in most disputes of this nature, a judge will be referred to determine the extent of breach and damage.
Infringement of Intellectual Property
Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind or creations in which one has to put in mental effort. For instance, literary works, music, symbols, images, and designs are all considered intellectual property. The goal of having laws on these properties is to protect the creator and to discourage individuals from making undue illegal profits. There have been multiple scenarios where infringement of intellectual property has led to the creator losing their rights. In the case of businesses, patents, trademarks, and copyrights for their products must be protected. If there is a case where it has been harmed and used unfairly, the company can sue the party. Litigation will take place where the judge will decide the compensation and punishment for the other party. Here, it is important to keep in mind that some kinds of intellectual properties are licensed to other people to use in exchange for a fee.
Also Read – What Do You Need To Know About Intellectual Property Rights In India?
Employment Problems
Any company that has several employees needs to be taken care of and given proper rights. If not, these employees will have cause to file a case against their employer. Many corporate law firms in the country handle employment disputes like wage issues, wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, severance pay problems, etc. In case of these employment problems, the employment contract signed by both the company and the employee will be referred to. Most of these issues are already addressed and set up within the contract. Out of all possible corporate disputes, employers must make sure to stay up to date and educate themselves about employee issues and come up with ways to address them should they arise in their company.
Also Read: Lex Solutions – Your One Stop Destination For All Things Legal
Fraud
In simple terms, fraud in the corporate space refers to anything or action did illegally. Corporate frauds have a sense of dishonesty and unethical news. Most frauds are committed with the aim to get an unfair advantage while disadvantaging the other person. Corporate frauds are quite complex and go beyond what can be possibly handled by a company without legal help. Some types of corporate fraud are selling or making gains from confidential and sensitive information, altering company records and financial statements, hiding company flaws, diversion of funds, etc. Depending on the type and extent of fraud related to financial motive, if a common settlement cannot be arrived at, a legal proceeding will take place in court. The judge will then decide how to settle the fraud and how to offer compensation.
Disputes Among Shareholders
Like there are employees, there are also many different types of shareholders. From a couple to thousands, the number of shareholders is not fixed. With such a high number of people, there is bound to be dispute and issue that requires legal help. Within this type of dispute, there can be several types of issues such as breach of contract, and fraud as mentioned above. Other issues such as poor management problems can commonly lead to disputes among the shareholders. For shareholder issues, employers must be thorough in what their rights would be and do everything in their capacity to protect them to prevent any problems.
Negligence Torts
Negligence refers to disputes that arise when the employer has not created a safe environment for the employees that leads to their harm. The said harm could be to the person’s property or self or wage. For instance, if there was a spill in the workplace that led to an employee slipping and hurting himself which leads to a legal case. The employee here can sue for loss of wages, medical bills, and also negligence at the workplace. These situations can arise anytime and are truly something outside the control of the employer. What is needed in such a case having a quick resolution process where the employee is given compensation and an option to settle without having to resolve litigation.
Conclusion
Corporate disputes are tricky to navigate as there is both money and reputation to protect. Lawyers such as the ones at Lex Solutions take care to navigate these cases properly to ensure both parties get what they want and there are no rights being harmed. The teams of lawyers at Lex Solutions are trained and have intensive experience in the law of mergers and acquisitions and related corporate disputes that will provide satisfactory results to all employers.