The parties will usually be expected to attempt alternative dispute resolution before taking any further legal action. If the attempts to resolve the dispute are not successful, the next stage of pre-action conduct can take place, known as pre-action protocols.

Pre-action protocols are a series of steps and directions that the court expects parties to business disputes to go through before issuing court proceedings. There are different protocols in place for some specific industries or types of dispute, so it's very important that the correct process for the individual situation is followed. Getting the right legal advice is very important to ensure that things are done correctly.

Depending on the specific protocol, in general terms it is usual for this stage to include a letter of claim being sent from one party to the other, outlining the details and the outcome that they want. The other party is then given an opportunity to respond to this and sometimes this communication will be enough for both parties to agree a settlement.

If they cannot agree, issuing a claim at court is the next stage.

The claiming party (known as the claimant) will send a claim form and a particulars of claim document to the Court, which outlines the claim (the facts, the law and the remedy sought), those who are involved and their estimation of the claim value. A court fee needs to be paid and the court will then issue the claim. The claimant then has four months to serve the claim form on the defendant, which must be done in the required manner laid out in law.

The defendant has 14 days in which to respond to the claim form they were served. They can respond by:

• Filing am Acknowledgement of Service which can given the defendant an extra 14 days to formally submit their defence,

• Filing full admission to the claim, or

• Filing a defence to the court and serving a copy of this defence to the claimant, or -Filing a partial admission to the claim and a partial defence for the other part of the claim.

The defendant also has the opportunity to issue their own counterclaim with their defence if they have incurred losses because of the dispute.

If no resolution can be found after the claim has been issued and responded to, the next stage is for each party to provide more information about the case to the court, which will enable the court to determine things such as what kind of evidence is needed, and whether witnesses or experts will be needed to provide some of that evidence.

The claim will be treated differently by the court system depending on value. Claims with a value of less than £10,000 are dealt with by the Small Claims Track. Claims with a value of between £10,000 and £25,000 are dealt with by the Fast Track. Claims with a higher value than this are handled by the Multi Track.

There are plans to bring in a new Intermediate Track which will eventually apply to claims valued at between £25,000 and £100,000, leaving only those claims valued over £100,000 being allocated to the Multi Track. These changes are likely to be brought in from October 2023 together with a new fixed recoverable costs regime for all claims valued at between £10,000 and £100,000.

Higher value and more complex claims might have to be dealt with by the High Court.

For Muti Track cases, the court asks the parties to detail the predicted costs of the litigation, up to and including the trial itself. The parties will disclose a list of the evidence they have in relation to the claim, and can inspect documents by request. Witness statements are also exchanged, along with any expert reports that have been agreed. A barrister will be instructed by each party as part of their legal team, to represent them in the courtroom.

The final stage before the trial date, time and location are fixed is for both parties to complete pre-trial checklists, where the court checks that all stages and directions have been completed as required.

The trial is held and unless the two parties agree to settle out of court during the process leading up to this, a decision is made on the dispute that is legally binding after the judge considers all of the evidence. The decision may be made at the time or may be delivered later, either at a hearing or in writing.

It's usual for the unsuccessful party in the dispute to be ordered to pay a proportion of the costs of the successful party, but recouping all costs is very rare.

Commercial litigation can be a lengthy and costly process, so taking a business dispute to court should always be a last resort.