During the commercial or civil litigation process, the steps involved to achieve the end result are quite similar. This is usually why people get confused between the two, but at St Helens Law we can use our expertise to explain some key differences.

During these processes, legal teams like ours are appointed to resolve court bound disputes between two parties, usually with the aim of coming to the resolution of compensation for damages. At face value, you might think that civil and commercial litigation is the same procedure, but this isn’t true. In this blog post, we take you through both processes whilst highlighting some key differences, so you know which type applies to you.

Civil litigation

Civil litigation always involves people as the two parties. This may seem obvious, but you’ll see why we specified people later. This is usually a court case that requires one party intending to claim for some kind of financial reimbursement from the other. There could be a variety of reasons why this is the case, many of which we’ve dealt with previously at St Helens Law. These usually include workplace related incidents such as accidents that result in injury but can also include disputes between two people regarding a property or divorce.

Compared to commercial litigation, these cases are normally quite straightforward to resolve. This is because the liable party is usually a single person as opposed to a representative of a company. Due to their smaller scale, civil litigation cases usually cost less in comparison to commercial litigation cases due to the lack of detailed investigations that can incur hefty fees.

Commercial litigation

Commercial litigation, on the other hand, involves a case between companies or businesses. As you can imagine, these cases are usually more complex than civil litigation due to the scale of the issues, and what is at stake for both parties. This is why commercial litigation processes are a lot longer in duration, as the complexities must be worked through until a detailed and factually correct decision is made.

Because of the thorough process involved with commercial litigation, this is the go-to option for business-related parties as they know that they will receive a detailed examination of events and have more chance of receiving their desired outcome.

Examples of commercial litigation are wide-ranging, but some of the most popular we’ve dealt with here at St Helens Law are tax disputes, shareholder disputes, fraudulent actions, and breach of contract actions.

No matter whether you’re more suited to civil or commercial litigation, our team of experts will gladly provide you with the professional service you need.

Similarities

Although they may involve different people with different disputes, both litigation processes are very similar. They involve investigations into the situation, whilst looking for an alternative resolution and following pre-action protocols.

They also require both parties to prepare a strong claim that gives them the best chance of reaching the resolution they feel they are worthy of. This includes document disclosure, witness statements, and expert reports.

Then the trial process begins, with detailed preparation needed for the trial to be successful. The process will then end with the enforcement of the verdict and any appeals if applicable.

Get in touch today

Here at St Helens Law, we specialise in both civil and commercial litigation cases. So, if you need civil or commercial litigation solicitors by your side when making a claim, our expert team are the people to call.

We are on hand to use our many years of experience in this field of law to answer any questions you have and provide you with sensible legal advice that you can use going forward.

To request a FREE 30 minute consultation with one of our team, be sure to fill out our online form on site now. You can also give us a call on 01744 742360 to speak to us directly or email us at info@sthelenslaw.co.uk and we will respond as soon as possible.