Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Overview

We have experience and expertise in all areas of dispute resolution, including, mediation, arbitration and civil and commercial litigation. Cross-departmental collaboration ensures depth and breadth of coverage and the sharing of experiences, and quality assurance, in more specialized areas of corporate and property practice.

We encourage our clients to adopt a non-contentious approach to the resolution of disputes, recognising that this can often achieve significant savings in cost and time. We offer guidance and support to clients who seek to negotiate or mediate a broad range of legal disputes, whether privately or through the Court-Connected Mediation Process.

Our highly skilled lawyers have extensive trial and appellate court experience across the full spectrum of civil litigation. They appear regularly in the High Court and Court of Appeal within their respective areas of specialised expertise, including banking, corporate/commercial, employment, divorce, personal injury, landlord and tenant, construction, property and real estate; with appearances or notable, precedent setting cases in the areas of insolvency, procedural justice and medical negligence.

Commercial & Banking
The firm represents all the major financial institutions in St. Lucia and many other clients, with vast knowledge and experience in commercial and banking matters. In addition to general debt recovery matters, we have successfully defended our clients in undue influence, fraud and breach of contract claims.

Bankruptcy and Insolvency
The firm, whose senior lawyers are also insolvency practitioners, is competent to provide advice on all aspects of bankruptcy and insolvency. We regularly advise both financial institutions (local and international) and insolvency practitioners on contentious and non-contentious insolvency matters. We remained poised to assist as St. Lucia embarks upon substantial reform of this area of the law.

Employment & Labour
The firm acts for a wide range of clients, both employers and individuals. Firm members’ knowledge and skill in the field equips us to provide clear and comprehensive legal advice in the new and evolving employment construct. Although skilled litigators, we recognize that alternative methods for settling disputes will often achieve the best result for all parties and often employ our ADR skills to good effect in this practice area.

Medical Negligence & Personal Injury
The firm, whose lawyers have handled the largest and most complex medical negligence claim in the Eastern Caribbean, has significant expertise in both advisory matters and litigation.

We also have extensive experience in advising and representing clients (both individuals and corporations) in personal injury matters, from pre-claim negotiations to assessment of damages.

Although skilled litigators, we recognize that alternative methods for settling disputes will often achieve the best result for all parties and often employ our ADR skills to good effect in this practice area.

Construction, Planning & Environment
We provide legal advice and representation to public and private sector clients on a wide range of construction matters.

Services offered include drafting of standard bidding and contract documents, advice on tendering procedures, tender conditions and probity issues, preparation of Tender conditions and contracts for traditional and non-traditional methods of procurement for construction and infrastructure projects, Neutral Arbitration, General Commercial Arbitration and Litigation.

We are also competent to advise on planning matters, representing clients from time to time on planning appeals. Although not a regular practice area, we also have the expertise to advise on environmental matters.

Divorce
We provide legal advice and representation on divorce and ancillary proceedings and related matters.

Intellectual Property – Contentious
The firm, whose specialist lawyers are members of INTA and IPCA, has experience in this practice area generally and are also competent to advise on, or represent clients, on oppositions and other contentious intellectual property matters.

Trusts, Probate and Administration
In collaboration with our Property team, and as seasoned litigators, we are well poised to advise and assist clients on trusts and succession, from the grant of probate and letters of administration to attendance to related contentious matters. We also attend to the resealing of grants of probate/administration made out of St. Lucia.

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