Last updated on April 9th, 2024 at 12:49 pm
If you have just received a summons or a complaint against you, evolving into a formal business lawsuit, you need to arm yourself with this information. What you do in response at the moment you are served with the complaint can determine how the rest of the lawsuit will progress. To position yourself and your business in the best possible light, you have to follow these tips that can aid you throughout the entire process.
File Your Response
Once you get served with a lawsuit, they give you a certain number of days, which is normally 28 days to file a response to the complaint. An experienced business lawyer may suggest some responses for you, such as a motion to transfer the lawsuit to another location or a motion to dismiss Florida family law and other responses that are relevant to your case.
The most common response to a lawsuit is an ‘Answer,’ which is a handwritten document in which the defendant can either admit or deny the allegations brought against him. Your ‘Answer’ will have to be filed in the allocated period after you have been served with the lawsuit to prevent any complications with the case moving forward.
Call Your Attorney
If your business does not have an attorney representing its best interests, this would be the best time to get one. You should hire a professional business lawyer, and if needed, you will also need a defense attorney before proceeding with the case against your business. The lawyer aims to help keep your business out of any litigation. Consulting with your lawyer as quickly as possible can work in your favor and get you ahead of anything.
Don’t Move Forward With Anything On Your Own
You may feel the need to try and communicate with the plaintiff, but you should avoid doing this. Even if you’ve had a personal or professional relationship with them, you should not discuss anything regarding the case with them at all. You may want to ask them questions or plead to them to drop the case, but taking this action may affect your case overall.
They can use any conversation you have with the plaintiff against you in a court of law, and they can use your statements to build the case to favor the plaintiff. Therefore, prevent this scenario from ever happening. Furthermore, make sure you get a company lawyer who’s competent enough to represent you and your company to the best of their abilities.
Preserve Any Important Information Related To The Case
While your business faces an impending lawsuit, you may come across information and records that can damage your case. These records could be anything from electronic documents, texts, paper files, and phone calls. All of these records are evidence and should not be damaged or hidden because if it’s discovered that you are hiding or destroying evidence, it can have an overall negative impact on your case.
You could face serious consequences such as monetary sanctions, and it will be on record that you destroyed evidence which can make you and your business lose credibility.
Check If You Have Access To Insurance
It’s a good idea to look over your company’s insurance policies and verify the coverage they can provide during this ordeal. Don’t assume anything, and check in with the insurance company first to know exactly what to do moving forward. Your attorney can help in reviewing the company’s insurance policy to determine which coverage applies to the specific case. If you don’t, this could be a solution.
Don’t Ignore The Lawsuit
Never, under any circumstances, should you simply ignore a lawsuit. When you are issued a lawsuit, you have a limited timeframe to respond to it, depending on your state or country. The minute you get sued, you have to contact your lawyer, especially one with relevant experience with the specific case you have now. Your lawyer must be able to help you with all the important aspects of the case, such as negotiations, resolution strategies, and any mediation meetings.
Make Sure To Take Pre-Lawsuit Precautions
It would be best if you put policies in place in your business to protect the rights of your employees and customers so that you can avoid any lawsuits in the future. These policies will be able to handle problems in-house before needing a legal team to step in and assess the situation. The human resources department (HRD) in your business should also be very diligent in handling any grievances at the workplace and enforce policies that protect the rights of the employees.
Lawsuits are anything but frivolous. They can reveal problems your business might have prevented if they had been addressed early on. Always remember the old adage, ‘prevention is better than cure, ‘clearly applies here. When a complicated situation emerges, your lawyers must be at the forefront immediately, they should know what actions to take to have a better position should litigation arise.
Check If You Have Access To Insurance
It’s a good idea to look over your company’s insurance policies and verify the coverage they can provide during this ordeal. Don’t assume anything, and check in with the insurance company first to know exactly what to do moving forward. Your attorney can help in reviewing the company’s insurance policy to determine which coverage applies to the specific case. If you don’t, this could be a solution.
Keep Your Business’s Best Interests As A Priority
Winning should not be your ultimate goal here. You will have to try and avoid any negative exposure that may arise because of the lawsuit. Going to court to deal with a lawsuit can cost a lot of money, and it can also be very time-consuming. This can have huge negative implications for your business, and your company’s credibility will surely be affected.
You will have to perform a cost-benefit analysis for your company to determine what’s the best step forward to take so that you don’t lose more money and customers.
Conclusion
If your business faces a lawsuit from either your partners, customers, or employees, you will have to be extremely prepared. Many businesses try to avoid lawsuits because of the stress and costs that come with a lawsuit. Aside from that, the negative legal repercussions of being sued entail a long and complicated path for your business. So, be sure to respond to a lawsuit as soon as possible and ensure you are armed with a business lawyer who will have you and your company’s best interests in mind. Remember to keep all these tips listed above to prevent the struggle of not knowing what to do next.
