case studies

The following two case studies involving emw law's Dispute Resolution Team are provided as examples of how we work:

Case Study 1 - Case Summary on Insolvency
Case Study 2 - Alternative Dispute Resolution

1. Case Summary on Insolvency

This firm acts on behalf of Administrative Receivers and Liquidators of Companies, Supervisors of Voluntary Arrangements and Trustees In Bankruptcy.

In many cases, this firm will take on the work on a contingency basis, as there are insufficient monies in the estates to pay legal fees, and will therefore be paid from the proceeds recovered.

This firm will review the papers and identify with the Insolvency Practitioner ease which claims should be pursued and which have no merit or are uneconomic to pursue. In a number of cases, claims can be settled without recourse to proceedings. However, proceedings are still necessary in some cases.

By way of example, the firm acted for a Trustee In Bankruptcy regarding substantial claims against a Bankrupt's wife concerning the transfer of a matrimonial home from the joint names of her and the Bankrupt into her sole name and the disposal of various assets some 12 months before the Bankruptcy Petition was presented against her husband.

The firm was involved in a detailed investigation into the acquisition of a building plot and the division of the same and the tracing of the proceeds of the sale of each plot. Proceedings were commenced and the Trustee In Bankruptcy's claim was successful in that an Order was obtained that the property be transferred back into the Bankrupt and his wife's joint names, resulting in some £150,000.00 benefit to the estate and therefore to the Bankrupt's creditors.

2. Alternative Dispute Resolution

The new Civil Procedure Rules provide that Court proceedings should only be used as a last resort. Accordingly, the emphasis nowadays is for parties to seek to resolve the issues between them by methods of alternative dispute resolution, i.e arbitration, mediation and by way of without prejudice meetings.

Arbitration is best suited to matters where the legal issues are not complicated but there is a considerable dispute regarding the facts of a case, i.e building disputes.

Mediation can be beneficial where the parties have become entrenched but a settlement would be the best result for both.

Without prejudice meetings can be extremely useful with or without legal representation as they enable the parties to air their grievances and thrash out the terms of settlement. By way of example, this firm acted with regard to a dispute that had arisen between their client (the provider of computer software) and its customer. The dispute had been running some 18 months. This firm prepared thorough details of the client's claim, setting out all the issues and amount of their client's claim. As a result of without prejudice correspondence and various meetings, a positive result was achieved for the client during a short timescale and without the costs involved of legal proceedings.

For further information or assistance please contact Karen Young.