Litigation & Arbitration

Commercial litigation / Corporate litigation / Arbitration / Discrimination litigation / Administrative and public law litigation / Banking litigation / Real estate and Construction litigation & arbitration / IT litigation & arbitration / IP Litigation / Media litigation (freedom of speech) / Litigation fundamental rights / Follow-on litigation / Competition law litigation / Privacy litigation / Director's liability / Insurance litigation / German Desk

At first thought, it’s like running into a maze. It can be long, difficult, expensive and uncertain.

We agree. That is why we make litigation controllable and predictable.

At the first sign of a dispute, not rarely earlier than any looming lawsuit, we first take a bird’s eye view of your maze — think of flying a drone over it. You and our team map the entire situation as early as possible to find the best outcomes, to trace the existing and the alternative routes, including possible ways of avoiding it altogether and every possible bump along the way.

Your business goals come first for us, as we work with you to keep you informed and in control of costs and strategies before, during and after any assignment. To that end, we employ cutting edge technology to monitor costs, optimise information flows and project management.

Our pre-emptive, strategic and goal-oriented approach to litigation, combined with our innovative legal tech tools provide foreseeable costs, alternatives and results. Advance planning, project management and close collaboration do mitigate risks, but more importantly, they give you control and predictability.

We assemble fit-for-purpose teams of expert litigators for each specific project, blending industry-specific knowledge with ample experience in commercial disputes, corporate litigation and arbitration.

• Planning ahead
• Achieving the best possible outcome for the client
• Putting the client in control of the process and its costs

The importance of planning and preparing ahead
One of our clients sought our advice in preparation for their partner’s possible abrupt end to a distribution agreement between them. Our analysis of the contract and their business revealed that several elements in their working relationship could and should improve. By implementing business improvement changes and carefully aligning communications under our advice, an eventual court decision on the termination that ensued resulted in an extension of the agreement, generating extra turnover for our client and providing for sufficient time to exit the relationship and engage a new partner.

Focus on the real issue for the best possible outcome
In a complicated custom software implementation partnership, our analysis found that the key question between these two parties would only be solved by a technical expert assessment. Instead of waiting until a court-appointed expert reviewed the issue far into litigation, we negotiated with the opposing party to present a mutual preliminary expert report to the court, leading it to merely rubberstamp the report. After that, even though the report was favourable to our client, we still negotiated an early settlement to prevent the added length, costs and uncertainty of a lawsuit.

Choose your battleground wisely, keeps costs under control
A European sales representative sued our US client in the Netherlands for damages and a goodwill compensation after termination of their sales agreement. We concluded that the sales representative did qualify for some compensation. However, due to the incidence of a specific EU Directive, we could challenge the jurisdiction of the Dutch courts. This move succeeded and led the parties to reach a settlement on substantially lower amounts than claimed.

For more information about the KVdL Way of Litigating, download the document below.