When you own your own Minnesota business, the chances of you finding it embroiled in some type of dispute over its lifetime are high. Business disputes arise for many reasons, and they often involve intellectual property rights issues, allegations of copyright infringement, or contract or shareholder disagreements, among others. However, they do not always have to take significant time or money away from your company’s day-to-day operations. Nor do they have to ruin your business’s reputation.
Per Harvard University, many business owners choose to resolve business disputes in one of three specific ways. There may be benefits and drawbacks associated with each type, and not every type is appropriate for every situation. However, you may choose to attempt to settle your business dispute through one of the following methods.
Through mediation
You may want to consider mediating your dispute before litigating it. This may prove particularly worthwhile if you want to maintain relationships, professional or otherwise, with the parties involved moving forward. In mediation, all parties embroiled in the dispute share their sides with an impartial mediator who recommends a reasonable solution.
Through arbitration
Arbitration is like mediation in that all parties involved in the disagreement meet with an unbiased third party. However, an important difference between the two types of alternative dispute resolution is that an arbitrator’s decision is legally binding, while a mediator’s is not.
Through litigation
Some business disputes are not resolvable through mediation or arbitration. In this case, you may need to litigate your dispute to reach a resolution.
It may serve you well to consider mediation or arbitration before litigation, as these options may save you time and money while also keeping sensitive matters more private.