Houston Commercial Litigation Lawyers
Business disputes are common. You can encounter various issues that you can only resolve through a lawsuit when you run a business. The team of Houston commercial litigation lawyers of Lowenberg Law Firm has over 20 years of experience representing clients like you in their complicated litigation matters.
Commercial litigation differs from civil litigation. In civil matters, the plaintiff typically pursues compensation from the defendant for losses suffered in some type of accident or harmful incident. The filing party can initiate their case in civil court. Commercial litigation often gets filed in federal court and involves disputes between companies or businesses. Sometimes, it can involve a conflict between a company and an individual or even a governmental entity.
At Lowenberg Law Firm, our Houston commercial litigation lawyers are ready to provide the legal services and representation you deserve to meet your needs and resolve your business matter. We understand the stress and frustration of encountering any kind of issue within your company. It’s a significant responsibility to take on a legal case when you’re trying to run your business and deal with the day-to-day operations.
Lowenberg Law Firm will put you first and treat you as a priority while we’re working on your case. You can depend on our team to tirelessly work towards a favorable outcome for you. We put forth the same amount of effort in every case we take, big or small, simple or complex. Call us at (832) 241-6000 today for your free consultation to discuss your business matter with us.
Common Types of Commercial Litigation Cases
Lowenberg Law Firm takes on a range of cases involving commercial litigation. The most common are:
- Fraud disputes
- Deceptive and unfair trade practices
- Debt collection
- Misappropriation of trade secrets
- Breach of contract claims
- Product liability claims
- Intellectual property disputes
- Corporate conflicts between members, shareholders, partners, owners, investors, etc.
- Shareholder and partner issues
- Tortious interference
- Breach of non-solicitation agreements
- Breach of non-competition agreements
- Employment disputes
- Breach of fiduciary duty claims against a company executive
Shareholder Rights
You might find yourself in a situation where issues arise with your position as a partner, shareholder, or member. Sometimes, a person owning a minority share of a company has problems with how others run it. You might think the majority shareholders have made bad judgment calls and poor decisions with the business. In some instances, minority owners feel taken advantage of by the majority owners.
Typically, disputes like these result from disagreements on the amount of each person’s share of company profits or distribution of those profits among the shareholders as dividends. However, multiple other problems can arise that require litigation. If you can’t settle the matter among yourselves, you need an experienced Houston commercial litigation lawyer to step in and help secure a fair resolution.
The available legal options will depend on how the company runs based on a partnership/shareholder/LLC agreement that controls operational procedures. A properly written contract should contain provisions for how multiple shareholders should handle disputes that arise. There could be an option to buy out a partner, shareholder, or member or to cash out your interests in the business.
Employment and Contractor Disputes
Legal matters can also occur when conflicts arise with an employee, former employee, contractor, or former contractor. Most of the time, the situation involves someone who believes they have not received the pay or benefits they were supposed to receive. Sometimes, a former employee can even file a lawsuit if they believe they were terminated unfairly.
There is usually some type of employment contract for higher-paid and executive positions within a company. However, lower-level employees might feel that they’re not being treated fairly or making wages that don’t match their responsibilities. Using the same general contract for every job doesn’t always work. It’s critical to consider each position and the duties that come along with it to determine what to include in the contract.
Breach of Contract Matters
Business-to-business arrangements can lead to a breach of contract issue when one party involved in the contract doesn’t do something they promised. For example, maybe you hired a service from another company, and they didn’t complete what you paid them to do or violated a provision of their contract, such as a non-disclosure agreement.
Depending on the circumstances, you can handle matters like these in several ways. A judge could terminate the contract so the plaintiff doesn’t have to meet any further obligations. Or, they could order that the defendant provide some sort of compensation to the plaintiffs, such as a refund of the payment they received to perform certain services and cover losses the business might have suffered due to the breach.
Sometimes, a judge will order both parties involved in the contract to comply with the terms. However, there are situations where the defendant might have an excellent argument defending their actions, and the court could decide not to enforce the contract. For example, if a company doesn’t pay someone for the services they hired them to do, the party that broke their contract could decide that they don’t have to perform the service since they’re not getting paid.
If a contract violates local, state, or federal laws, there’s no way to enforce it. Unenforceable contracts can also result from “acts of God,” such as a hurricane preventing a business from completing their responsibilities as laid out in the agreement.
Partnerships and Small Business Disputes
A small or family-owned business can run as a partnership, LLC, or S-corporation. Various factors could contribute to issues between shareholders, owners, and partners. You might disagree about how to manage the company or what you want to do with the business in the future.
Compensation is a common problem in small businesses. One or multiple parties could have issues with how you split the profits among each owner, shareholder, or partner. If you believe you’re receiving much less compensation than your partners, you could take your case to court. If the judge concludes that all owners can’t run the company together any longer, they might force a dissolution or sale of the business. You would then have to determine how to divide up all the assets.
You might be able to avoid taking your case to court altogether if you can arrange a favorable agreement internally. Maybe it’s best to buy out a partner that doesn’t have the same vision as the rest of the partners or rewrite the terms of your contracts to divide up compensation more fairly and determine who’s responsible for making decisions in specific areas of the business in the future.
Why Hire a Commercial Litigation Lawyer?
Although you might be able to resolve some matters without a third party, it’s always a good idea to seek legal counsel and explore your options. Lowenberg Law Firm can review the issues you’re having with your business and recommend how to handle the situation. Under some circumstances, settling out of court is a better alternative. However, there are times when you might need to file a lawsuit to prove your case at trial so that a judge can determine what needs to be done.
When you meet with us, it’s crucial that you answer our questions honestly and be forthcoming about any problem you’re having with a partner, shareholder, employee, or contractor. We need every detail, so we can develop an appropriate strategy to defend your rights and prepare for any curveball thrown our way. Hiding things from us won’t work well for you later. Others within the company probably know about the skeletons in the closet and can use specific information against you to win their case. If you inform us of potential obstacles, we can determine how to overcome them.
Following are some of the tasks Lowenberg Law Firm can perform on your behalf:
- Prepare documents to bring to the court during your lawsuit
- Evaluate your case during our initial meeting
- Represent the interests of your business and present arguments at trial
- Draft a complaint or response to the opposing party’s complaint
- Appeal unfavorable rulings by the judge
- Draft pleadings or motions necessary in the case
- Recommend options based on the evidence we find
- Provide and obtain documents and other evidence during the discovery process
- Negotiate a settlement with the other party’s lawyers
The way our Houston commercial litigation lawyers handle your case will depend on whether you’re the plaintiff or defendant and whether we think we could help you achieve your legal goals. As a plaintiff, there might not be enough evidence to prove the validity of the business dispute in court. We can recommend taking another course of action to resolve the issue so you don’t suffer additional losses.
If you’re the defendant in commercial litigation, we’ll need to create a plan to defend you effectively. There isn’t relevant evidence to show you weren’t at fault for the dispute in some cases. It might be a good idea to try to settle with the opposing party in those cases, so you don’t have to face them in court.
Contact Us
Lowenberg Law Firm is proud to represent clients in Houston and fight to protect their rights. We know the challenges you face when you’re in business with other people and how much emotional and financial strain it can cause. When you’re in the middle of a dispute, it can place everything on hold and affect your business and personal life. You can count on our legal team to remain in your corner and be your advocate during this challenging matter. We will do what we can to reach the best possible outcome so you can get your life back on track and move forward.
If you’re facing any type of business dispute, do not hesitate to contact Lowenberg Law Firm at (832) 241-6000. We can meet with you during a free initial consultation to discuss your case and determine the options available for you.