We act for businesses in dispute with suppliers, customers, contracting parties, shareholders, partners and professional advisers.Our role is to understand the legal and commercial position quickly, recommend an appropriate course of action and then carry it through. Sometimes that means proceedings. Often it does not.
A commercial dispute can affect cash flow, management time and business certainty at the same time.
Money may be tied up in a claim or exposed to a claim brought against the business. Senior management may be required to spend time dealing with the dispute rather than the underlying business, while the financial exposure remains uncertain.
The legal costs matter, but so do the time, disruption and commercial consequences of allowing a dispute to continue without a clear strategy.
Book an initial triageBusinesses will often have an initial view of their legal position. The more difficult questions are what the dispute is realistically worth, what it may cost to pursue or defend, and what the consequences are if the outcome is adverse.
Is the claim strong enough, on the documents you actually hold, to justify the cost of running it?
What is the realistic range of outcomes, and what does the worst end of that range do to the business?
Can the other side pay, and what are the realistic prospects of recovery if you succeed?
Is there a limitation date, a contractual notice period or a commercial deadline that removes the option of waiting?
Does the commercial relationship need to continue after the dispute, and should that affect how the matter is handled?
Is the issue commercially significant beyond this dispute, or is an early resolution preferable?
Liability, quantum and costs exposure, with likely outcomes assessed realistically rather than by reference only to the best-case position.
What the contract actually says, what the correspondence shows, what is missing, and what the other side will be able to produce.
The realistic settlement range and the realistic judgment range, set against the cost of getting to each.
The counterparty’s ability to pay, security, guarantees, insurance and enforcement prospects.
Whether the right first move is a letter, a negotiation, a formal process, a protective step or no action at all.
Our guide for senior decision-makers sets out the framework we use to assess a commercial dispute before committing to a course of action.
Read our commercial dispute viability guide
Dispute mitigation, pre-action protocol compliance, negotiation, mediation and other forms of dispute resolution, litigation, and enforcement.
Commercial contract and breach of contract claims; supply of goods and services disputes; banking and financial services disputes; insurance coverage and policy disputes; manufacturing disputes; product defects and liability; recovery of commercial debts; professional negligence; property disputes; insolvency-related claims; shareholder and partnership disputes; asset recovery.
We manage the dispute with you from the point we are instructed, whether the matter is at an early stage, already in correspondence, in negotiation, or in proceedings.
Our role is to take control of the legal process, identify the decisions that matter, coordinate the evidence and any experts or counsel required, and guide the client through each stage with a clear view of strategy, cost and risk.
The aim is to reduce the management burden on the client while keeping the key commercial decisions with the people who know the business best.
Tenarys was founded by Kevin Timms, a solicitor with more than fifteen years’ disputes experience, including substantial commercial, insurance, product liability and complex multi-party litigation.
Experience acting for both claimants and defendants helps us test a client’s position from the perspective the other side is likely to take. The firm’s approach to assessing and managing disputes is informed by Kevin’s experience, while matters may be handled by other experienced solicitors within Tenarys where appropriate. Counsel and technical experts are brought in where a matter requires them.
About Tenarys LawIf you are weighing up a commercial dispute, start with a senior, commercially grounded view of where you stand. For suitable matters, the fixed-fee viability report gives you a clear recommendation within 14 days.
Book an initial triageThe initial triage is a short conversation to understand the dispute, any immediate deadlines and what the business is trying to achieve. There is no charge for it, and it does not commit you to instructing the firm.
To find out how we can help you, contact us now
Level 30, The Leadenhall Building,
122 Leadenhall Street,
London
EC3V 4AB
With a short triage conversation about the facts, the exposure and the deadlines. If it is a matter we can help with, we set out the options, the likely costs and a recommended first step in writing before you commit.
Costs are agreed in advance wherever the work can be defined. We use fixed fees for discrete pieces of work, including an initial written assessment, and will consider risk sharing structures where they suit the facts of the case. The triage conversation itself is not charged.
Then we say so and explain why. That is a useful answer. Identifying that at an early stage can avoid significant unnecessary cost and management time.
Either. Some clients hand the dispute over entirely. Others want us behind the scenes, preparing correspondence and strategy while they hold the relationship. We can work in either way, depending on what the client needs.
We are frequently instructed part way through a matter, including where a second view is wanted on strategy or on settlement value.
