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Knowing the Costs of Litigation as A Commercial Trial Attorney in Ventura California

Greg Wood Dec. 1, 2022

As a commercial trial attorney in Ventura California, you know that litigation is not inexpensive. However, you may not be taking into consideration the additional emotional costs that this experience has on your clients. Before recommending litigation, a commercial trial attorney in Ventura California should ensure that he or she fully explains the downsides of litigation to his or her client.

Severed Relationships

Most parties are not able to walk out of court and retain their once healthy relationship with each other. Litigation has a disturbing way of severing ties between parties that may have been able to be reformed. In the commercial context, a lost business connection may wind up costing more to the prevailing party than the actual court award through the loss of business opportunities with the adverse party or the need to hire someone else to perform the project. Even if the party you represent is successful, he or she may always associate you as someone who was involved in a dark period during his or her life.

Publicity

In most situations when a case is brought in court, it becomes a matter of public record. In the commercial context, being embroiled in a heated legal dispute often gives a negative impression of the business. Even if your client prevails, there will always be members of the public that think he or she should not have. The damage to the business reputation can be enormous.

Time

Litigation is usually not fast-paced. Instead, cases can easily drag out for more than a year and even longer if there is a successful appeal. During this time, the parties are often in an uncomfortable limbo and may be unable to finish a project or take advantage of business opportunities.

Alternative dispute resolution can eliminate many of these problems. Arbitration and mediation can often provide finality to a case in less time than it takes to go through litigation. Likewise, these proceedings are confidential and may not cause a relationship to be forfeited in the process.