When asked, most people would define a law suit as an extremely
nasty word that no one wants to hear and a very negative experience
that everyone wants to avoid, especially if they're on the
losing end. However the fact of the matter remains, as long
as there are disagreements and people are unable to resolve
them and choose to use adversarial means then, there will be
lawsuits. In fact, according to Illinois statistician and researcher,
Cathy Morison, “In the last few years, millions of lawsuits
were filed in the state of Illinois alone. Suits that could
have easily been avoided if people had just been open and receptive
to resolving their difficulties through other means.”
But,
why should people avoid law suits? The primary reasons
are because they’re time consuming, stressful, extremely
expensive and a downright pain in the neck. Plus, in many
cases they are 100% avoidable. In this brief article, we
will discuss five proven steps to help you avoid a lawsuit
before it becomes a reality.
1.The
first step to avoiding a law suit is to understand why
law suits happen and then avoid that potentially dangerous
situation. Law suits happen because one party feels that
another is misusing them in one way or another and they see
no other option to resolve this problem. The best way to
avoid this is to always follow this Golden Rule, “Do
unto others as you would have them do unto you." This
simply means that you must always treat the other person
or company the way you would want to be treated by being
open, honest, respectful, and truthful with them at all times.
Even if it is a verbal agreement, you still have to follow
the same rule because your word is your bond and turn about
is fair play and when people see you as the wonderful and
honest person that you are, they are more receptive to working
with you to resolve issues instead of suing you.
2.The
next step is to be clear with the other party or parties
about what the agreement involves. Therefore at the very
beginning, always make it clear what your expectations are
and what the other person’s expectations are as well.
Then, make a verbal agreement to abide by those mutual expectations.
This can be the difference between diffusing a law suit instead
of entering into one.
3.Third, once you are sure that the party is ready to move
forward with the agreement then proceed to check out applicable
laws regarding the contract. At this point, if you are unfamiliar
with the law it may be advantageous to get legal help from
a qualified attorney that will assist you in drafting the
contract. This might incur a fee but that small fee paid
now, can save you millions later.4.Fourth, now you should
put all agreed information onto paper and include an insurance
policy to protect your rights. The perfect insurance is to
insert a mediation clause which can be added into the end
of the agreement so that if either party has a problem then
they will go to a neutral mediator instead of filing suit.
The mediator will then work with them to resolve their difference
through the formation of a win-win resolution.
5.Next,
both parties should go over the contract once again and
make any necessary changes to ensure that it is an agreeable
document for all involved. Now that all parties are in agreement
it's time for signatures. In closing, by following these
suggested steps, you can avoid the millions of people every
year who are sued each year because they didn’t follow
the above mentioned steps. Instead, you can be one of the
savvy business person who saved themselves time, stress,
energy and money by not negotiating and not litigating.
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