So, you want to pursue a dispute? You think you know who to pursue (in the pre-action stage and ultimately if you cannot resolve, in litigation) but are not sure. It doesn’t really matter who you pursue anyway. Wrong.
Ensuring you have the correct entity in a dispute is paramount. Particularly when it comes to commercial disputes. There might be a complex contract in place, a complicated company structure behind a company, a parent guarantee, an offshore company involved, or you might have a dispute with an individual. It is imperative to make sure you pursue the entity which you have a cause of action against. If (after you have exhausted the pre-action stage and if a settlement has not been possible) you proceed to litigation and have named the wrong entity (party) in proceedings it can lead to your proceedings being struck out (this is bad) or if you realise the wrong party has been named, it can be a costly mistake and could lead to you needing to amend your pleadings (specialist documents used in litigation). Whilst you would be unlikely to be allowed to do this, if you continue to proceed with a claim against an incorrect party you might then have paid for a worthless judgment which you are unable to enforce. This means in monetary terms, you won’t get the compensation you had hoped for.
It isn’t always easy to establish who the correct party to pursue is, sometimes the tools needed to investigate are not available, if there is a contract it’s not always clear who the contracting parties are or you may have been mislead by your opposition.
If you have a dispute and want to know who to claim against, it is sensible to speak with a solicitor. Becky at SHU Law has many years’ experience of dealing with a wide array of disputes. Call 0114 225 6666 to see if SHU Law can assist.