What is Corporate Litigation?
Corporate litigation encompasses a lot more than one business suing another. In fact, corporate litigation includes any type of legal proceeding having anything to do with a business or corporation, and can include steps taken to avoid litigation as well as actually litigating and managing business disputes.
In general, corporate litigation involves a whole host of tort and contract issues. But with Sarbanes-Oxley and other recent regulations aimed at increasing public scrutiny of business and corporate practices, corporate litigation has come to include dealing with federal regulators and ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations, as well.
Skilled business litigators are equipped to handle every legal problem a corporation may face over the course of its life, such as the following:
- Ensuring compliance with wage and hour and anti-discrimination laws
- Defending companies against wrongful termination suits
- Securing compliance with new accounting and corporate governance regulations
- Litigating or mediating shareholder-derivative lawsuits
- Managing corporate tax compliance
- Settling labor disputes with unionized workforces as well as with at-will employees and professionals
- Breach of contract issues, usually with other businesses, whether defending or prosecuting
- Tort issues, if a customer or client suffers injury from one of your products or services
- Corporate real estate issues, from premises liability to disputes with landlords or regulators
Unfortunately, running a successful business in today’s world requires advance planning to manage litigation risk and to avoid becoming a target of government investigations. Developing a relationship with a skilled corporate litigation firm before problems actually arise can make risk avoidance and management easier.
