For a business dispute, what a lawyer can do for you, are simply three steps, demand letter, negotiations with opponent to seek for a settlement, and raise an official action of litigation or arbitration.

What can lawyers do for you when we say first two steps, demand letter, and negotiations?

As per our before experiences considering all our dispute cases in past decade, about 30% of our cases could be settled by demand letter and negotiations. And this is not a simple job, but a job of psychological warfare.

When we send demand letter for client to opponent, it could be one letter, demand letter, or two letters, demand letter and ultimatum, which we may also call it “final demand letter before legal actions”. An ultimatum is used to give opponent further and more pressures, especially when opponent is open to negotiations.

After the first demand letter was served to opponent, and opponent comes to us to talk with us, and we will enter second step, negotiations with opponent. Sometimes opponent does not come to call us, then we can give them a phone call, and seek to hear their complaints or opinions defending themselves, and then we can carry on friendly negotiations with opponent, if they will pick up the phone and answer us.

However, if the letter could not be served to opponent, when courier can not find opponent, and their address is fake or wrong, or opponent simply refuse to accept the mail of demand letter, and our phone call to them is rejected, nobody answers it, or the receiver refuse to admit that he/she is the opponent or is working for the opponent, then negotiations with opponent will be impossible to be carried on. Then we can send the ultimatum to opponent, which is our final action. This ultimatum is final, means we will not call opponent any more after the ultimatum, but they still can call us for negotiations, of course we will not refuse their phone call and settlement offer; and if they will not call us, then we can say the negotiation does not work, and we will recommend client to stop the negotiations, and start to make preparations for the litigation/arbitration case.

If the negotiation works, then we can come to one settlement agreement with opponent, and we will draft one simple settlement agreement with opponent for client; in this agreement, we will add-up opponent’s cost (the cost of breaching the settlement agreement) if they will not honor the settlement agreement.

And a settlement means compromise, hence it means sometimes client need to give up a little or even some, so that parties can achieve the settlement, after all, a litigation/arbitration case, is expensive both over time and money. Hence to give up a little or some and parties can come to one settlement, sometimes is more economical than the litigation/arbitration case.

Finally, demand letters and negotiations are a low-cost and quick action, if the letter works, or the letter does not work, we will be able to see it very soon, hence we need not waste too much time on it, when it does not appear to work. .