Halliday Campbell WS are Signet Accredited Specialists in commercial litigation, based at our office in Edinburgh. We act for companies, partnerships and individuals bringing and defending court actions across Scotland, and for solicitors in England and overseas on litigation in the Scottish jurisdiction. Office open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Commercial agreements and obligations.
Most commercial disputes begin with a document somebody thought was clear. Whether the question is what the parties agreed, whether it was performed, or what the breach is worth, the answer usually turns on the wording and on what happened afterwards.
Halliday Campbell WS advise on contractual disputes from the first letter of claim through to proof. We read the contract against the conduct of the parties, identify the clauses that will decide the outcome, and give you an early view on both liability and quantum. A great many of these disputes settle once the position has been set out properly, and we act with that in mind rather than treating an action as the only route.
Matters we advise on
- Breach of contract and repudiation
- Supply, distribution and agency agreements
- Warranty and indemnity claims
- Restrictive covenants and non-compete clauses
- Terms of business and incorporation disputes
- Misrepresentation and inducement to contract
- Contractual interpretation and rectification
- Guarantees and letters of comfort
Take advice before you accept a repudiation or stop performing. The step taken in the first week often decides what the claim is worth. Call us on 0131 668 3000.
Company and corporate disputes.
Disputes between the people who own and run a business are rarely only about the law. They affect how the company is run, the relationships inside it, and often the value of the thing being argued over.
Halliday Campbell WS act for shareholders, directors, partners and companies in disputes over control, conduct and value. We advise on the remedies actually available, on what each is likely to cost, and on where a negotiated exit will serve you better than a petition. Where an action is necessary we conduct it, and we instruct counsel where the case calls for it.
Matters we advise on
- Shareholder disputes and unfair prejudice petitions
- Partnership and LLP disputes and dissolution
- Directors’ duties and breach of fiduciary duty
- Derivative actions brought on behalf of a company
- Disputes arising from share and business sales
- Earn-out and completion account disputes
- Deadlock between equal shareholders
- Just and equitable winding up
A shareholders’ agreement or partnership agreement usually dictates how a dispute like this has to be resolved. Send it to us before you take a position.
Intellectual property and technology.
For many businesses the valuable asset is a name, a design, a body of data or a piece of software. Those assets are worth only what they can be defended for, and the defending is usually urgent.
Halliday Campbell WS advise on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property, and on disputes arising out of technology contracts. We act in the Sheriff Court and the Court of Session in trade mark and passing off actions, in copyright and confidential information claims, and in disputes over failed software implementations. Interim orders are often the whole point of these actions, so the pace of the first week matters.
Matters we advise on
- Trade mark infringement and passing off
- Copyright and database right infringement
- Breach of confidence and misuse of trade secrets
- Design right and registered design disputes
- Domain name and online brand abuse
- Software development and licensing disputes
- IT implementation and systems failure claims
An application for interim interdict turns on how quickly you move. If you have discovered an infringement, call us before you write to the other side.
Property and land.
Property disputes tend to arrive at the worst possible moment, when a lease is ending, a development has stalled, or a tenant has stopped paying. The documents are usually decades old and the money at stake is current.
Halliday Campbell WS act for landlords, tenants, owners and developers in disputes about commercial property and land. We advise on the strength of the position under the lease or the titles, on the procedural steps that have to be taken in the right order, and on whether the dispute is worth pursuing at all. A great many of these matters are decided by a notice served correctly, or incorrectly.
Matters we advise on
- Commercial lease disputes and irritancy
- Rent arrears and recovery of possession
- Dilapidations and repairing obligations
- Rent review and lease renewal disputes
- Boundary, title and access disputes
- Servitudes, wayleaves and rights of way
- Real burdens and title conditions
- Missives, development and building contract disputes
Notice periods in commercial leases are strict and are rarely forgiven. Check the date with us before you rely on it.
Insolvency.
Insolvency changes who can do what. A creditor’s options, a director’s exposure and the standing of a transaction all shift the moment a formal process begins, and sometimes well before it.
Halliday Campbell WS advise creditors, directors and insolvency practitioners on formal insolvency and on the disputes that come out of it. We act on winding up and sequestration, on challenges to transactions entered into before insolvency, and on claims against directors for their conduct in the period a company was failing. Where you are a creditor, the practical question is usually whether there is anything left to recover, and we answer that one first.
Matters we advise on
- Winding up petitions, and defending them
- Liquidation, administration and receivership
- Sequestration and trust deeds
- Gratuitous alienations and unfair preferences
- Wrongful and fraudulent trading claims
- Director disqualification proceedings
- Proving claims and challenging adjudications
- Retention of title claims
- Personal guarantees called on insolvency
A statutory demand is a serious step with consequences when it is wrong. Take advice before you serve one, and immediately if you receive one. Call us on 0131 668 3000.
Debt and asset recovery.
Recovering a commercial debt is a process rather than an event. Most of the work is in choosing the right step at the right time, and in making sure there is still something to recover by the time the decree arrives.
Halliday Campbell WS recover commercial debt from the first letter of demand through to decree and enforcement, in the Sheriff Court and the Court of Session. We advise on which route is fastest for the sum involved, on interest and statutory recovery costs, and on the interim orders that stop assets moving while an action runs. Where the debtor disputes the sum, the matter becomes a contract action and we conduct it as one.
Matters we advise on
- Letters of demand and pre-action correspondence
- Simple procedure and ordinary actions for payment
- Commercial actions in the Court of Session
- Arrestment on the dependence and inhibition
- Charge for payment and diligence after decree
- Enforcement of cross border decrees
- Interest and late payment compensation
Diligence on the dependence has to be applied for at the right stage of an action. Ask us before it is raised, rather than after.
Professional negligence.
When a professional adviser gets it wrong, the loss usually surfaces years later. The first question is whether it is still possible to sue at all. The second is whether the advice was negligent or merely unlucky.
Halliday Campbell WS act for businesses and individuals in claims against professional advisers where negligent work or advice has caused financial loss. These claims turn on the scope of the duty owed, on what a competent adviser would have done instead, and on proving what would have happened had the advice been right. Expert evidence is almost always required, and we instruct it early.
Matters we advise on
- Claims against solicitors and conveyancers
- Claims against accountants and tax advisers
- Claims against surveyors and valuers
- Claims against architects and engineers
- Claims against financial advisers and brokers
- Negligent advice on transactions and warranties
- Loss of a chance and causation disputes
- Prescription and time bar questions
Claims like these prescribe. The date you first knew about the loss matters as much as the negligence itself, so bring us the chronology early.
Fees and funding.
The cost of an action is part of the decision to raise it. Halliday Campbell WS charge for the time spent on your matter at published hourly rates, so the commercial question and the legal one can be answered together from the outset.
Time is recorded in units of six minutes and charged at the rate for the person doing the work, with separate rates for solicitors and for paralegals. Our rates are published and are quoted exclusive of VAT. We do not undertake legal aid work and we do not offer free initial advice. Once you have given us enough detail we can tell you what the action is likely to cost, and we will tell you when the cost of pursuing a claim has stopped being proportionate to it.
How work is charged
- Time based charging at published hourly rates
- Time recorded and charged in units of six minutes
- Separate rates for solicitors and for paralegals
- All rates quoted exclusive of VAT
- Court and tribunal fees, charged on as outlays
- Sheriff officers, advocates and expert witnesses, charged on as outlays
- Recovery of judicial expenses from the other side
- Liability for the other side’s expenses if an action fails
We will give you a written costs estimate once you have given us enough detail for it to be accurate, and update it as the action develops. Call 0131 668 3000 to discuss a matter.
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