1 Legal framework

1.1 What system of jurisprudence applies in your jurisdiction? What implications does this have for litigation?

Singapore has inherited the English common law tradition. The doctrine of judicial precedent, vertical stare decisis in Singapore, requires that judges apply the ratio decidendi (the operative reasons) of the decisions of higher courts. Singapore courts have developed a strong body of local jurisprudence, particularly in areas covered by statutory law (eg, company law, criminal law). However, the courts still refer to case law from England.

The state care bound by the decisions of the Court of Appeal and of the High Court. Neither the Court of Appeal nor the High Court is bound by its own decisions, as the doctrine of horizontal stare decisis does not apply in Singapore. Nevertheless, the courts have shown some reluctance in overturning cases before them in the same courts, unless exceptional circumstances occur, such as a policy change.

1.2 What rules govern litigation in your jurisdiction?

The Rules of Court, as made in accordance with the provisions of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap 322), govern the civil litigation procedure for the most part.

1.3 Do any special regimes apply to specific claims?

Special regimes may apply for different claims under different acts. For example, workers may claim for injuries and occupational diseases that happen at work, or as a result of work, under the Work Injury Compensation Act. Under the Employment Claims Act, salary-related disputes or wrongful dismissal disputes between employees and employers will be heard by Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT).

Small claims not exceeding $20,000 are heard by the small claims tribunals.

1.4 Which bilateral and multilateral instruments have relevance to litigation in your jurisdiction?

Singapore is not a signatory to the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters 1965 (Hague Service Convention). However, Singapore has separate bilateral civil procedure conventions with different countries such as China and Germany. With these jurisdictions, service may be effected through the judicial authorities.

Furthermore, Singapore is a party to the Hague Conference on Private International Law Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters 1970.

Foreign judgments may be enforced in Singapore through three statutory regimes:

  • under the Choice of Court Agreements Act (Cap 39A, 2017 Rev Ed) (CCAA);
  • by registration under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (Cap 265, 2001 Rev Ed) (REFJA); or
  • through the Reciprocal Enforcement of Commonwealth Judgments Act (Cap 264).

2 Judicial structure

2.1 What courts exist in your jurisdiction and how are they structured?

The Supreme Court, state courts and family justice courts together form the Singapore court system.

The Supreme Court comprises the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC).

The following cases are all heard by the High Court:

  • civil cases with a claim exceeding S$250,000 in the first instance;
  • probate matters with an estate exceeding S$5 million (or if the case involves the resealing of a foreign grant); and
  • ancillary matters in family proceedings where assets equal S$5 million or more.

Criminal cases where the offences are punishable by death or with imprisonment terms exceeding 10 years are also tried by the High Court.

The High Court exercises original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases.

The state courts comprise the district courts, the magistrates' courts, the coroner's court and the small claims tribunal.

Magistrates' courts deal with civil claims of up to S$60,000 and district vourts deal with claims of up to S$250,000. The small claims tribunal has a claims limit of S$10,000. However, the latter can be raised to S$20,000 with written consent.

The family justice courts, comprising the family courts and youth courts, hear family-related cases, as well as probate and succession matters.

2.2 What specialist courts or tribunals exist in your jurisdiction?

Some international and commercial disputes that are not heard in the SICC are managed in the High Court by specialist judges.

The specialised lists in the High Court are established for:

  • Building and Construction, Shipbuilding, Complex and Technical Cases;
  • Finance, Securities, Banking, Complex Commercial Cases;
  • Company, Insolvency, Trusts;
  • Arbitration;
  • Shipping and Insurance;
  • Defamation, Professional Negligence, Statutory Tort;
  • Medical Negligence;
  • Intellectual Property/Information Technology;
  • Revenue Law; and
  • Public Law and Judicial Review.

3 Pre-litigation

3.1 What formalities apply before litigation can be commenced in your jurisdiction?

The plaintiff's lawyers must enquire whether the prospective defendant's lawyers have instructions to accept service on behalf of their client. The originating process can only be served directly by the plaintiff's lawyers on the defendant if the defendant's lawyers have not confirmed that they have such instructions within three working days of the enquiry.

A letter of demand will be sent by the prospective plaintiff before commencing action to give the prospective defendant the opportunity to respond to the claim and to potentially avoid litigation.

3.2 Do any pre-action protocols or similar rules apply prior to the commencement of litigation? What are the consequences of non-compliance?

Besides possible pre-litigation steps that may be prescribed in a contract's clause on dispute resolution mechanism, there are generally no prerequisites to commence litigation.

However, there exist some pre-action protocols for medical negligence claims brought in the High Court and state court, and for personal injury claims. Other protocols exist for:

  • personal injury claims;
  • non-injury motor accident claims; and
  • defamation claims brought in the state courts.

A failure to comply with these protocols will be sanctioned by a court, unless good reasons are provided.

3.3 What other factors should a party consider before commencing litigation in your jurisdiction?

Early settlement is encouraged by pre-action rules which provide that litigation is only commenced as a last resort for the resolution of disputes. For instance, the state courts encourage parties in all claims to consider alternative dispute resolution as the ‘first stop' and detailed requirements and procedure may be found in Order 108 of the Rules of Court and Part III of the State Courts Practice Directions.

A letter of demand is usually sent before commencing an action, to give the parties the opportunity to settle the matter before proceeding for trial.

4 Commencing litigation

4.1 What rules on limitations periods apply in your jurisdiction?

The Limitation Act (Cap 163) generally governs the limitation for civil claims. A limitation period usually commences when the cause of action accrues. For ‘latent' injuries and damage, the limitation period commences only when the plaintiff has both the right and the knowledge required to bring an action for the relevant damage.

Contract and tort claims generally have a limitation period of six years. Where there is a claim for damages for negligence, nuisance, breach of duty, latent injury or damage, the limitation period may be extended. Claims to recover land have a limitation period of 12 years.

No limitation period applies to an action by a beneficiary of a trust, where the action is in respect of the trustee's fraud and/or to recover trust property or proceeds from the trustee.

4.2 What rules on jurisdiction and how this is determined apply in your jurisdiction?

The relevant statutes on the civil jurisdiction of a court are the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap 322, 2007 ed) (and corresponding provisions in the State Courts Act, Cap 321, 2007 ed).

The foundation of the jurisdiction of the court lies in the service of the originating process on the defendant.

Special rules of jurisdiction apply to the Singapore International Commercial Court.

4.3 Are class actions permitted in your jurisdiction?

Where numerous persons have the same interest in proceedings, such proceedings may be brought by one of them (the representative plaintiff), as per Order 15, Rule 12 of the Rules of Court. The court retains the discretion to discontinue the proceedings. This mirrors the representative action procedure in English law under Part 19.6 of the Civil Procedural Rules.

4.4 What are the formal requirements for commencing litigation?

Legal proceedings are brought by the filing in the court of an originating process by the plaintiff (either a writ or originating summons).

4.5 What are the procedural and substantive requirements for commencing litigation?

The originating process is usually served personally and effected by leaving a sealed copy of the writ or the original summons with an individual or with the defendant's lawyer. Service to a company can be effected by leaving a copy of the originating process at, or by sending it by registered post to, the registered address of the company. However, the parties may mutually agree by contract to an alternative method of service; or the court may, on the plaintiff's application, make an order for substituted service of the originating process. The originating process is served with leave of court if the defendant is outside Singapore.

The originating process is usually valid for six months in the first instance (in admiralty cases, the validity is of 12 months. The validity is also 12 months in the first instance if the originating process is served out of the jurisdiction of Singapore.)

4.6 Are interim remedies available in your jurisdiction? If so, how are they obtained?

Interim applications can be made before trial or even after trial, even if an injunction is not part of the plaintiff's cause of action. Applications for interim relief – such as freezing injunctions, search orders, detention or preservation of the subject matter of the action, the recovery of personal property claimed in the action but subject to a lien, the sale of perishable property or the appointment of a receiver of property – are admitted. In urgent cases, the application can be made ex parte.

4.7 Under what circumstances must security for costs be provided?

Usually, the unsuccessful party in proceedings will be ordered to pay the costs of the successful party. The court has the discretion to order reimbursement of costs and will determine the amount of such costs. In some cases, the costs payable by the unsuccessful party are agreed after a negotiation.

5 Disclosure

5.1 What rules apply to disclosure in your jurisdiction? Do any exceptions apply to certain types of documents?

All relevant documents (whether favourable or unfavourable to a particular party) must be disclosed, as per the Singapore Rules of Court. A party may be compelled to make specific disclosure of certain documents, under an order for specific discovery. However, the court may order a controlled method of disclosure to protect the confidentiality of the documents.

Privileged documents are exempt from disclosure.

The parties are not subjected to general disclosure in Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) proceedings. Under an SICC order for discovery of documents, a party may be required to disclose them only if they are relevant and material to the requesting party's case.

5.2 What rules on third-party disclosure apply in your jurisdiction?

Communications between a client and a third party (eg, an accountant, expert, surveyor, patent agent) may be privileged if the main purpose of communication is to obtain legal advice (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (Publ), Singapore Branch v Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore) Pte Ltd ([2007] 2 SLR(R) 367).

Communications with third parties (eg, accountants) created for the dominant purpose of legal proceedings that are reasonably anticipated or existing are also privileged.

5.3 What rules on privilege apply in your jurisdiction? Does attorney-client privilege extend to in-house counsel?

Communications with legal advisers for the purpose of obtaining legal advice are privileged. A lawyer must not knowingly disclose any information which is confidential to their client and is acquired by the lawyer in the course of their engagement (Rule 6 of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015). This includes documents in which such communications are intrinsically embedded. The confidentiality of communications between the lawyer and the client is reinforced by statutory prohibitions in Section 128 and 131 of the Evidence Act.

Documents that incriminate or expose a party to a penalty under Singapore law are also privileged.

Privilege does extend to in-house counsel. However, the Evidence Act states that the legal professional privilege does not apply to a communication with in-house counsel "which was not made for the purpose of seeking his legal advice".

5.4 How have technological advances affected the disclosure process in your jurisdiction?

The Electronic Filing System was installed in Singapore in 2000 to enable the preparation and electronic filing of court documents, the extraction and service of court documents as well as the tracking of case information by electronic mean. The Electronic Litigations Systems was then introduced to revamp the system and further integrate technology into the litigation processes. In 2013, eLitigation was launched to streamline case file management with text reminder alerts, calendaring, and hearing management to select hearing dates as well as a secure form of access to the web-based service via SingPass.

The technology courts were created for lawyers and judges to share information, and for witnesses to give evidence via video conferencing.

A number of technology innovations were further introduced to facilitate and streamline various criminal processes.

Furthermore, forensic technologies are increasingly being used by law firms in support of discovery. Those technologies assist firms in processing and producing data that can be used in litigation, enabling a better discovery process.

5.5 What specific considerations should be borne in mind during the disclosure process, for both plaintiff and defendant?

As per Order 24, Rule 16, Rules of Court, a plaintiff's claim may be dismissed if it fails to comply with its discovery obligations. If a defendant fails to comply with its discovery obligations, its defence may be struck out and a judgment may be entered against the defendant accordingly. Furthermore, a party might not be able to rely on any relevant documents that have not previously been disclosed in discovery, at the trial.

The rules relating to discovery in Singapore International Commercial Court proceedings are simplified. A party only needs to produce documents available to it on which it relies.

6 Evidence

6.1 What types of evidence are permissible in your jurisdiction?

Affidavits made under oath (affidavit of evidence-in-chief) are the means for witnesses of fact to give their evidence. Those affidavits of evidence-in-chief are exchanged by the parties after the discovery is concluded and before the trial. The witnesses' affidavit of evidence-in-chief will be supplemented with oral evidence when they attend trial for cross-examination by the opposing party. Expert reports are also valid types of evidence permitted in Singapore.

6.2 What rules apply to expert evidence in your jurisdiction? What specific considerations should be borne in mind when preparing and presenting expert evidence?

The expert remains independent when assisting the court on the matters within his or her expertise and this duty overrides any obligation to the person that instructed or paid the expert (Order 40A, Rule 2 of the Rules of Court). An expert report by an expert witness with oral evidence will be supplemented with oral evidence when the expert attends trial for cross-examination.

Expert reports that a party does not intend to rely on anymore and draft expert reports are generally protected from disclosure due to litigation privilege.

6.3 What other factors should be borne in mind when preparing and presenting evidence in your jurisdiction?

Singapore is a party to the Hague Conference on Private International Law Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters 1970.

Under the Evidence (Civil Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act (Cap 98), it is possible to make an ex parte application to the High Court for an order for evidence to be obtained in Singapore.

7 Court proceedings

7.1 What case management powers do the courts have in your jurisdiction?

To streamline the case management process, particular emphasis is placed in Singapore on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods, arbitration and mediation, so as to divert disputes from the courts. Mediation, arbitration and other modes of ADR may take place at various stages of the formalisation of a dispute.

The application of technology has also helped courts manage cases. For instance, the Integrated Case Management System Singapore enables all criminal proceedings within the state courts of Singapore to be conducted in an electronic environment using digital documents

7.2 Are court proceedings in your jurisdiction public or private? If the former, are any options available to the parties to keep the proceedings or related information confidential?

Examples of such cases include where there are arbitration-related court proceedings or where the proceedings involve vulnerable witnesses.

However, save for interlocutory applications, which may be heard in chambers, court proceedings are generally public. The public may view documents filed in court proceedings by filing a request to inspect the document. The court will then decide whether access should be granted.

There are instances in which the court may, on the application of a party, make all or any of the following orders:

  • for the case to be heard in camera – the legal term for private hearing (ie, not in open court);
  • that no person must reveal or publish any information or document relating to the case; and
  • for the court file to be sealed.

In the Singapore International Commercial Court, the court would regard factors such as:

  • whether parties have an agreement on any confidentiality orders to be made; and
  • if the subject of the confidentiality order is an offshore case.

7.3 How is the applicable law determined? What happens in the event of a conflict of laws?

The choice of governing law made by the parties in a contract, if the parties have made express provisions to this effect, will be respected by the Singapore courts. Otherwise, the court may infer a common intention as to the proper law of the contract according to the circumstances of the case. If such intention cannot be determined, the court will choose the system of law with which the contract has the closest and most real connection.

If there exists a statutory rule in Singapore law, the Singapore conflict of laws rules will require this rule to be applied irrespective of any express choice of the parties.

An example of a statutory mandatory rule is the Unfair Contract Terms Act (Cap 396), which stipulates that this act has effect notwithstanding any contract term which applies or purports to apply the law of some country outside Singapore, where (either or both) the term appears to the court, or arbitrator or arbiter to have been imposed wholly or mainly for the purpose of enabling the party imposing it to evade the operation of this act; or in the making of the contract one of the parties dealt as consumer who was then habitually resident in Singapore, and the essential steps necessary for the making of the contract were taken there, whether by the consumer or by others on his or her behalf.

7.4 What rules apply to the joinder of third parties?

Subject to the Rules of Court, two or more persons may be joined together in one action as plaintiffs or as defendants with the leave of the court or:

  • where separate actions were brought by or against each party, some common question of law or fact would arise in all the actions; and
  • where all rights to relief claimed in the action (whether they are joint, several or alternative) are in respect of or arise out of the same transaction or series of transactions;
  • where the plaintiff in any action claims any relief to which any other person is entitled jointly with it, if all persons so entitled are parties to the action; and
  • where persons are jointly, but not severally, liable under a contract and relief is claimed against some but not all of those persons in an action in respect of that contract, in which case the court may, on the application of any defendant to the action, by order stay proceedings in the action until the other persons so liable are added as defendants.

7.5 How do the court proceedings unfold in your jurisdiction? What specific considerations should be borne in mind at each stage of the process, for both plaintiff and defendant?

The two types of originating process are the writ of summons (often used in actions involving commercial disputes) and the originating summons. The summons by the plaintiff, which contains details of the parties and a brief endorsement of claim or a full statement of claim, commences the action. It must be served personally on the defendant (the service must be effected within 12 months of the date of issue if the defendant is outside the jurisdiction). The defendant must then serve a memorandum of appearance to the action within eight days of service (if the service is effected outside jurisdiction, the entry of an appearance must usually be done within 21 days of the date of service). Should the defendant wish to challenge the jurisdiction of the Singapore Court to hear the case, it must do so no later than the time limited for filing its defence (ie, 14 days after the last day for entering an appearance). After the close of pleading comes the discovery stage. Affidavits of evidence-in-chief (witness statements) will be exchanged. During trial, the parties' respective witnesses are cross-examined by the opposing party's counsel or the opposing party itself (if unrepresented). At the end of the trial, the parties will prepare their closing submissions. After considering all the evidence and the submissions made by parties, the court will deliver its judgment.

7.6 What is the typical timeframe for the court proceedings?

A typical timeframe for court proceedings commenced by writ of summons in the High Court is one and a half years from the date of filing of the writ of summons until conclusion of the trial. Court proceedings in the state courts generally have a longer timeframe compared to those in the High Court.

There is, however, no fixed timeframe for court proceedings. The duration of the proceedings will depend on various factors, including the complexity of the dispute, the conduct of the proceedings by the parties and the duration of the trial. In the course of the court proceedings, the progress of the case will be monitored and subject to appropriate directions made by the registrars of the High Court and State Courts.

8 Judgment and remedies

8.1 What types of judgments, orders and other remedies are available in your jurisdiction?

At the conclusion of a trial, an order of monetary payment is the most common remedy. It represents the amount owed to the plaintiff as a debt and/or the damages for a loss caused by the defendant.

As a general rule, damages are only compensatory and not punitive in nature.

If damages are not an adequate remedy, the court can order other remedies, such as a declaration or specific performance. A plaintiff may apply to the court for an interlocutory (interim) injunction

The plaintiff's entitlement to the applicable remedy will need to be proven on a balance of probabilities.

9 Appeals

9.1 On what grounds may a judgment be appealed in your jurisdiction?

With exceptions, an appeal is possible at every stage of litigation.

There are limited circumstances in which the appellate court can overturn findings of facts by the trial judge – for example, if the trial judge's assessment is plainly wrong or against the weight of the evidence.

The appellate court may also depart from the trial judge's finding on a witness's credibility if it has access to the same material as the trial judge, and the trial judge's assessment of a witness's credibility is based on inference drawn from internal consistency in the content of the witness's testimony or external consistency between the content of the witness's evidence and the extrinsic evidence (Sandz Solutions (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Strategic Worldwide Assets Ltd [2014] 3 SLR 562, paragraphs 39–41).

9.2 What is the appeals process? Is the judgment stayed while the appeal is pending?

The High Court hears criminal appeals from the district courts, magistrates' courts, family courts and youth courts. It may also hear civil appeals from family courts, district courts and magistrates' courts, and other tribunals as may be prescribed by written law – for example, the Employment Claims Tribunal.

The Court of Appeal hears civil appeals from any judgment or order of the High Court (including appeals against a judgment or order of the Singapore International Commercial Court), and hears criminal appeals against any decision made by the High Court in the exercise of its original criminal jurisdiction.

Parties seeking to bring an appeal from the state courts to the High Court must file and serve a notice of appeal within 14 calendar days of pronouncement of the judgment or order.

Parties seeking to bring an appeal from the High Court to the Court of Appeal must file and serve a notice of appeal within one month of pronouncement of the judgment or order.

9.3 What specific considerations should be borne in mind during the appeals process, for both plaintiff and defendant?

The Court of Appeal will correct any misapplication of the law, but will not ordinarily disagree with the trial judge's findings of facts (unless they are manifestly wrong). A new point can be argued only in exceptional circumstances. It is possible to have new evidence admitted on special grounds, with the leave of the Court of Appeal.

10 Enforcement

10.1 How are domestic judgments enforced in your jurisdiction?

The principal methods of enforcement of judgment debts or the carrying out of orders of the court are as follows:

  • a writ of execution or writ of possession;
  • an originating summons to wind up a company defendant or to declare bankrupt an individual defendant;
  • garnishee proceedings;
  • a writ of execution on immovable property, where a writ of seizure and sale is imposed on an interest in land owned by the defendant;
  • the appointment of a receiver over the defendant's interest; and
  • proceedings for contempt.

10.2 How are foreign judgments enforced in your jurisdiction?

No answer submitted for this question.

10.3 What specific considerations should be borne in mind during the enforcement process, for both plaintiff and defendant?

If the judgment creditor does not know what assets the judgment debtor holds, an examination of the judgment debtor (in the case of a company, one of its officers) before an assistant or deputy registrar by oral cross-examination on oath about debts owing to him or her and what other property or means he or she has of satisfying the judgment may be conducted.

11 Costs, fees and funding

11.1 What costs and fees are incurred when litigating in your jurisdiction?

According to Order 59, Rule 1 of the Rules of Court, ‘costs' include fees, charges, disbursements, expenses and remuneration. These include a wide range of moneys payable, such as:

  • hearing fees and filing fees for court papers;
  • lawyers' fees;
  • experts' fees, if any; and
  • any disbursements for miscellaneous expenses such as photocopying charges.

In the High Court, hearing fees are payable from the fourth day of trial onwards. For claims below S$1 million, the fees are fixed at:

  • S$6,000 for the whole or part of the fourth day;
  • $2,000 for the whole or part of the fifth day;
  • S$3,000 for each day or part thereof of the sixth to tenth days; and
  • thereafter S$5,000 per day or part thereof.

For claims above S$1 million, the hearing fees are fixed at:

  • S$9,000 for the whole or part of the fourth day;
  • S$3,000 for the whole or part of the fifth day;
  • S$5,000 for each day or part thereof of the sixth to tenth days; and
  • thereafter S$7,000.00 per day or part thereof.

In the district courts and the magistrates' courts, hearing fees start from the second day of trial at a fixed rate of S$500 and S$250 per day, respectively.

The court has the discretion to order reimbursement of costs and the amount of such costs.

11.2 Are contingency fees and similar arrangements permitted in your jurisdiction?

Contingency fee agreements for lawyers are not permitted in Singapore in litigation.

11.3 Is third-party funding permitted in your jurisdiction?

Generally, third-party funding for litigation is not permitted in Singapore. However, amendments were made to the Civil Law Act (Cap 43) in 2017, allowing funding agreements for qualified funders for specified categories of disputes. Furthermore, some courts have allowed limited third-party funding where there is a legitimate interest by the third-party funder in the litigation.

Third-party funding is permitted for international arbitration and related court or mediation proceedings.

When third-party funding is allowed, the existence of any funding agreement and the identity of the funder must be disclosed by the lawyers to the relevant court or tribunal, as well as to every other party to the proceedings.

11.4 What other strategies should parties consider to mitigate the costs of litigation?

To help the court decide how much fixed costs to award, the parties will present arguments on the amount of fixed costs they think should be awarded. However, the parties should be aware that the successful party recovers only for costs reasonably incurred, rather than all costs actually incurred.

Proposed changes by the Civil Justice Commission to have civil litigation costs fixed to a scale were made in 2018, but were then withdrawn.

12 Trends and predictions

12.1 How would you describe the current litigation landscape and prevailing trends in your jurisdiction? Are any new developments anticipated in the next 12 months, including any proposed legislative reforms?

Dispute resolution is a growing field in Singapore, a jurisdiction that benefits from a stable political and economic system and worldwide recognised expertise in arbitration, with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and a growing number of practitioners. The Singapore International Commercial Court and the Singapore International Mediation Centre complement an organisational system to project Singapore as a dispute hub on the Asian and international stage.

Generally, Singapore is trying to modernise its litigation system by adopting electronic processes, enhancing efficiency and speed of adjudication, and maintaining costs at reasonable levels.

Some recommendations for the implementation of scale costs for litigation, with professional fees to be charged as per the monetary amount in dispute, were made a couple of years ago, but were rejected en masse by the legal profession.

13 Tips and traps

13.1 What would be your recommendations to parties facing litigation in your jurisdiction and what potential pitfalls would you highlight?

Recommendations:

  • Instruct counsel who are prepared to assist clients to vigorously pursue cost-effective and time-effective alternative dispute resolution processes such as mediation to resolve disputes.
  • Ensure that counsel are experienced in mediation advocacy. The traditional adversarial skillsets of litigation lawyers are unsuitable for clients wishing to resolve disputes effectively through collaborative processes such as mediation.
  • If arbitration and litigation are unavoidable, instruct counsel who are willing and able to provide progressive estimations of fees based on stages, instead of using only time costs of lawyers attending to the matter as the benchmark for billing.

Pitfalls:

  • Be mindful of engaging lawyers whose representation is focused solely on the litigation process and not on providing clients with practical solutions to resolve the dispute effectively and efficiently.
  • In the large majority of litigated cases, the intangible costs of pursuing litigation outweigh any perceived benefits.
  • Litigation is not about discovering, uncovering or declaring the truth.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.