Litigation and Arbitration

A document that is enforceable, meaning one that produces a clear, express and due obligation on the debtor. An electronic sales invoice where the issuing and acceptance conditions were met, a promissory note, a bill of exchange, a cheque, a contract with defined payment obligations or a signed payment agreement can all work. The first thing we do is review what the company holds and say whether it works. If it does not, the instrument has to be built or the matter goes down the longer declaratory route.

Yes, and in collection matters it is usually what decides the outcome. In enforcement proceedings the measures are requested with the claim and granted together with the payment order. In declaratory proceedings there are other measures, including registration of the claim and innominate interim relief, subject to the requirements the judge sets. A bond is almost always required and the applicant is liable for damages if the measure is granted and the case is then lost, so we assess that cost before applying.

In a large share of civil and commercial matters, out-of-court conciliation is a precondition to filing: without the corresponding certificate the judge will not admit the claim. There are exceptions, including enforcement proceedings and cases where interim relief is sought. Before filing we check whether the requirement applies to your matter, because missing it costs weeks and signalling the claim too early can give the debtor time to move assets.

Some superintendences exercise judicial powers and decide certain matters as a judge would: the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce in unfair competition and consumer protection, and the Superintendence of Companies in a number of corporate disputes. Other proceedings before those same bodies are administrative and enforcement-related, with different rules and appeals. Choosing the forum is part of the strategy and is decided before the first submission is drafted.

A favourable judgment against a debtor with no assets recovers nothing. That is why asset tracing is done before filing rather than after: if no assets or security turn up, we say so and assess with the client whether it is worth investing in the case, negotiating a payment agreement or writing the receivable off. Where there are assets, the work does not end with the judgment: it continues through the calculation of the debt and the auction until the money is in.

It is urgent. Deadlines to respond and to raise defences start running from service, and whatever is filed in that first submission stays on the record and shapes everything that follows. The first thing we do is confirm the date of service and the applicable deadline, review what is being claimed and on what evidence, and build the defence from there. Missing that deadline is usually more damaging than any weakness in the case itself.

Yes. We review the entire file, the stage the proceedings have reached, the deadlines currently running and the decisions already taken, and deliver a written reading of the case and of what can still be corrected. The client then decides whether to substitute counsel or to keep the second opinion only. Some stages are closed and cannot be reopened, and we flag that at the outset rather than discovering it halfway through.

No, and be wary of anyone who does. Judgment is handed down by a judge on the evidence that was taken, and no lawyer controls that. What we do control is an honest assessment of the case before money goes into it, the quality of the claim or defence, the evidence gathered, interim relief applied for in time, and compliance with deadlines. Where the case is weak we say so before you spend, not after.