Disputes

At Coodes, we understand that personal disputes can be challenging, taking up time, resources and emotional energy, and potentially souring or disrupting important relationships. Our personal disputes team know that resolving personal disputes effectively requires sensitivity and experience, as well as first-class legal expertise. We have been advising and representing clients throughout the South West and nationally for more than 275 years, helping to resolve disputes and limiting the damage they cause.

We recognise that every dispute is unique, and we tailor our advice accordingly. Working closely with you, we will develop a comprehensive understanding of the details of the dispute, and your goals and priorities, allowing us to develop a practical and effective legal strategy with you. We aim to minimise the impact of disputes on your life while ensuring your rights and interests are protected.

Whatever the dispute, our specialist personal dispute lawyers will help you to understand the strength of your individual case, your options for resolving the dispute, and the likely costs and potential risks. The law around personal disputes is full of technical jargon that can be both confusing and frustrating. We’ll help to break it down for you, explaining the process and laying out the various routes you could take to achieve a satisfactory solution.

Our approach to personal disputes

We believe that effective communication and understanding are key to resolving personal disputes, and we strive to create a comfortable and supportive environment where you can openly discuss your concerns. Our focus is always to understand what you want to achieve in resolving a personal dispute – your objective.

Our personal disputes team will provide an initial case consultation – an expert diagnostic review of the matter at hand. This will be a brief review of the dispute and will give you a better understanding of your options and the potential legal costs and timescale of taking the dispute forward. We provide this consultation for a discounted fee to ensure that you are able to make an informed decision about how to take your case forward.

Our personal disputes lawyers are specialists in their fields, combining technical legal knowledge with practical experience of how best to resolve disputes quickly and as cost efficiently as possible.

For some clients, having their ‘day in court’ and defending a ‘principle’ is important. Or you may feel the need to secure a positive judgement. If you instruct us to initiate or defend a case, we will help you develop the best strategy to secure a positive ruling should the matter ultimately lead to court. We have substantial experience of positive outcomes in cases in court. Our team of personal dispute lawyers are experienced and technically expert advocates with an impressive record of success. We also have strong relationships with a wide range of barristers and other professionals that we can bring into your legal team to give you the best possible chance of a successful outcome.

However, court action is not the only or necessarily the best approach. Your objective may be to simply bring the dispute to a close – to find a solution that works, is acceptable to both parties and leaves you to get on with your life. We are experts in many forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and would always recommend you consider your options fully before committing to court action. For many people, focusing on a solution rather than seeking a ‘victory’ is the best and most practical approach – it’s almost always faster and cheaper and it saves both you and the other party from a lengthy and stressful process with an uncertain outcome.

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

Our personal disputes lawyers are experienced in many forms of ADR. These are legal approaches that help people to resolve disputes without resort to the court, which can be both costly and drawn out, and which ultimately may not deliver the outcome you want. Our focus is always on finding practical solutions that enable you to move forward with your life.

ADR provides you with a range of options. They usually involve an appointed professional considering the merits of your case and making a judgement based on their experience and the weight of the evidence. In some cases, these judgements are legally binding.

ADR routes include:

• Early neutral evaluation
• Mediation
• Adjudication
• Arbitration

Fees for personal disputes

We approach each personal dispute on a case-by-case basis, offering a range of funding options and always seeking to provide strategies that are as economical as possible.

During your initial consultation, we will explain the various approaches to funding your legal action, including exploring whether you have legal expense cover in any of the relevant insurance policies you may hold.

Our approaches include:

• Discounted initial consultation at £200 plus VAT for the first hour
• No win, no fee (for selected cases)*
• Deferred fees*
• Insurance-funded support
• Standard hourly rates

*Any deferred or conditional fee agreement do not include disbursements which must be paid as the matter progresses.