What are the best strategies for managing a business failure to pay dispute?  The issue of a failure to pay has several applications in a business setting.  This can involve the failure of a customer to pay for the products and services you’ve provided.  It may involve a breach of contract or a dispute regarding the quality of products or workmanship.  There may be a dispute between business owners, shareholders, investors or members in an LLC when a disagreement about the distribution of profits or the failure to declare and pay a dividend impacts the nature and value of your investment.

The Watkins firm has served the San Diego and California business community for more than 40 years.  We have developed a unique process specifically designed to resolve disputes and lawsuits including managing a business failure to pay dispute in a timely, cost-efficient manner.  Usually, the first step in this process is a free consultation with one of our attorneys.  We’ll want to verify the specifics about your unique situation and any documentation or contracts associated with the dispute.  Have appropriate steps been taken with regard to reminders, or an effort to set up some form of payment process?  If so, the next step might be a well-crafted demand letter that formally establishes the nature of the failure to pay, the amount owed (including interest or penalties) as well as a request for immediate payment. Our demand letter communicates a clear message: someone owes you money, you expect it to be paid or you are prepared to take action to ensure you are compensated.

Your Watkins Firm attorney has extensive experience managing a failure to pay dispute.  We are able to resolve the vast majority of these cases for our clients through effective, leveraged negotiation.  We are prepared to file a lawsuit if necessary, and to see any case through business mediation, arbitration or even a trial.  It is our 40+ year track record of proven success at trial that adds substantial weight to your side of the equation.  The other party will know you mean business, and are prepared to do what is necessary to ensure payment.

Pro-Tip: “We want to get the facts down and we want the evidence they have in chronological order, because that’s the best way to communicate to the other party, to a third party, to anyone is in chronological order. That’s how we think. Then I want to help our clients analyze the damages. Whether you are feeling like they owe you something, they’re not complying with the agreement or vice versa. I also want to help you analyze what it’s going to cost to fight. Is there any potential for future business. Can we, should we salvage this relationship? All of those important things should come into play as we work to give good advice. Sometimes we’ll even advise our clients how we would think about it and then let them go talk to their partner or whoever they’re dealing with on their own armed with our knowledge and our negotiation technique.

Knowing the facts, the damages, the law of the damages is key, because that gives your lawyer the ability to predict what would happen if you went to trial tomorrow and you won, what would you win? That’s it, that’s the number. In civil court, we’re only looking about dollar amounts, and how to determine them, and understanding human nature. Preparation for my clients has to go with damages, the law and damages the facts, getting all the facts down so that we have things to say and then informing my client. We cannot just go in there, and say, ‘here’s the right number. Here’s what I’ll settle for. I’m done talking that doesn’t work.’ It should. We believe we’re all intelligent people. And if we all are intelligent people, we should be able to look at the facts. If we agree on the facts, apply law and come up with the exact same number. Like it’s an accounting problem, but it doesn’t work that way. People are not wired that way.

In a business dispute usually its really clear who broke the agreement. However, businesses operate on a longitudinal graph of time. So if you just analyze this person broke this agreement with me today and don’t analyze what the value of the overall investment is, right then you’re not really doing yourself anything good. You’re just being too focused on one little breach. When you could focus on that breach, balanced against how much profit I made over the years, balanced against my total investment balanced against, you know, do I want to continue on all those factors, which believe it or not we have experts for, they can put it in a number if we have to go to trial, but we can also talk intelligently with our clients about, okay, let’s put some numbers and value on this. And so that we’re not thinking too narrowly in a small box, we’re thinking outside the box and we know what we’re talking about. And what’s good for us as a business decision and as a legal decision and as a financial decision.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

We invite you to review our podcast Episode 11 – Resolving a Business Dispute as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.