Commercial Litigation Lawyer Montana

You know better than most that owning a business is a lot of work – but you can count on a commercial litigation lawyer Montana residents rely on to help you focus on what’s most important. There may be a million things for you to keep track of during the day-to-day of running your business, but at the end of the day, some of these things are worth your time, and some aren’t.

When you’re involved in a contract dispute, you’re not able to focus on the rest of your business, and that can be a problem if you’re barely able to set time aside for managing the bare essentials. You have more important things to deal with than contract disputes, but they can still hamstring your business and potentially sink your entire operation. That’s where a Montana commercial litigation lawyer from Silverman Law Office, PLLC comes in.

Why Do I Need a Lawyer?

When you’re not actively dealing with a contract dispute, a business lawyer can help you avoid many pitfalls that other business owners fall into often. If you’re tired of dealing with a business-related dispute that’s affecting your ability to manage your business effectively, a commercial litigation lawyer can help you get out from under the dispute – and the right lawyer can help you avoid any disputes in the future.

Lawyers are a valuable ally for any business owner. By keeping you on the straight and narrow, they can help you focus on running your business and growing, rather than just treading water with endless disputes and legal red tape. While it may seem intimidating or tiring to have to deal with a lawyer, it’s actually a great way to keep your business running smoothly – and you’ll enjoy the peace of mind and security a lawyer can offer your business every day.

Of course, a commercial litigation lawyer is an important resource if you’re already dealing with commercial disputes. Contracts are incredibly common in the business world, and so are contract disputes. This can range from general breaches (in which a contractor fails to deliver the agreed-upon service) to disputes regarding non-compete contracts (which exist to ensure your former employees can’t use your trade secrets to directly assist your competition).

In a world full of contracts, it can be a massive nightmare if one – or several – contracts are suddenly in dispute. You need a professional who can keep your contracts clean, and you need a professional who can help you fight your way past any commercial litigation that hampers your business. Fortunately, Silverman Law Office, PLLC is ready to help.

Contract Law and the Statute of Limitations

A commercial litigation lawyer Montana residents trust knows that lawsuits are based around some sort of legal claim, an event, or controversy where someone was harmed. For contracts, this harm usually comes in the form of a breach, where one party fails to fulfill its obligations. However, people are not allowed to simply lie in wait indefinitely after a breach of contract and file a suit decades later. Instead, the law imposes a rule called a statute of limitations. This rule acts as a time limit on filing a case, though the time limit varies based on the particular circumstances of the case.

After learning about statutes of limitations, many people wonder why they exist. Intuitively, it seems unfair that an injured party should have a countdown placed on their ability to seek compensation. In reality, there are two reasons for it, fairness to the defendant and the accuracy of the trial. From the standpoint of fairness, the law believes that even if someone has done something wrong, they still have the right to deal with it in open court and then put it behind them, rather than having the threat of a lawsuit hanging over them for the rest of their life.

As for the accuracy of the trial, evidence often degrades over time. Crucial objects can be lost, and witnesses’ recollections of events can grow hazy. Consequently, courts want plaintiffs to bring cases swiftly in order to have the best information available.

How Long is the Statute of Limitations for Breach of Contract?

For the purposes of contract law, the statute of limitations can be as long as five years or as short as one depending on what type of contract it is. Certain sales contracts can have even shorter limits, four years by default, but the terms of the contract can opt to limit it to as little as one year. A Montana commercial litigation lawyer can determine what the statute of limitations is in your case.

In addition to the question of how long the statute of limitations is, the other major concern is the question of when the clock starts to count down. The general rule is that the time limit starts running from the moment of the breach, not the moment that the breach causes the injury. However, there is an exception to this normal starting point if something called the discovery rule applies.

The discovery rule “tolls” the statute of limitations, meaning that it prevents the time from counting down until the injured party either discovers the breach or should have reasonably discovered the breach. As a Montana commercial litigation lawyer can explain, the discovery rule does not function for all breach of contract claims, so whether it applies will depend on the specific facts of a case. There are also other rules that can toll the statute under certain circumstances such as if the injured party is a minor or away on military service.

Get in Touch with Silverman Law Office, PLLC Today

At Silverman Law Office, PLLC, we understand how challenging it can be to run a business even when everything is going smoothly. If you’re trying to run a successful business but you keep dealing with disputes that prevent you from doing so, it’s important to get a legal representative who can guide you out of these legal issues. Get in touch with Silverman Law Office, PLLC today, and see how a commercial litigation lawyer in Montana can help your business thrive.