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Business Litigation
When a partner freezes you out, a customer refuses to pay, or a former employee walks out with your clients, the dispute threatens the business itself. We litigate commercial disputes with an understanding of how the deal was built, because our corporate practice builds them.
The Approach
Litigators who read the operating agreement first.
Insurers and opposing counsel keep track of which firms actually try cases, and settlement negotiations reflect it. Most business disputes are decided by documents: the operating agreement, the purchase agreement, the guaranty, the restrictive covenant. Mitch tries the case, and the corporate practice reads the paper the way the drafter intended. That combination finds leverage other firms miss.
A lawsuit is a business decision. Before we recommend one, we tell you what it can recover and what it will cost to get there. When a dispute is better resolved than tried, we say so. Four decades of trying and settling cases teaches you when a business should settle and when it should not.
What we handle
Commercial disputes, both sides of the v.
- Shareholder & Partner DisputesFreeze-outs, deadlock, distributions withheld, and buyouts at an unfair price.
- Breach of contractSupply, services, construction, and purchase agreements, from demand through trial.
- Fiduciary duty claimsSelf-dealing and diversion of company opportunities by managers and officers.
- Restrictive covenantsEnforcing or defending non-solicits and non-competes under Georgia's restrictive covenant statute.
- Construction LitigationDefects, delay, payment, and lien claims between owners, contractors, and subcontractors.
- Fraud and misrepresentationClaims arising from the sale of a business or an investment.
What to expect
How we move a dispute.
- Assess the paperGoverning documents, correspondence, and books reviewed before the first demand goes out.
- Build leverageRecords demands, preservation letters, and early motions. A demand carries more weight when the firm behind it is prepared to file and try the case.
- Resolve or tryMediation from a position of strength, and trial when it serves your business.
Civil Trial Practice
Four decades on both sides of the courtroom.
There is a difference between managing a lawsuit and trying one. Mitch Skandalakis has tried civil cases to Georgia judges and juries since the 1980s, for plaintiffs and for defendants. He began his career defending claims for a major insurance carrier, and working both sides of the courtroom teaches you how the other side values a case, delays it, and decides when to settle. He builds every file to defeat that evaluation.
We prepare every case as if it will be decided by a jury. Most resolve earlier, on terms shaped by that preparation, and we do not file cases we are unwilling to try.
- Real property disputesBoundary, easement, title, and landlord-tenant disputes.
- Construction LitigationDefective work, payment, and lien claims between owners, contractors, and subcontractors.
- Probate & Trust LitigationWill contests, fiduciary accounting, and disputes among heirs.
- Government accountabilityOpen records enforcement and claims against public bodies.
- Serious injury claimsComplex civil claims, including those referred through our personal injury practice.
- MediationRepresentation of clients in mediation, prepared with the same file that wins at trial.
Questions
Before you call.
How is business litigation billed?
Usually hourly against a retainer held in trust, with a written budget for each phase. Where a commercial case supports it, we will consider a contingency or hybrid arrangement that puts part of our fee at risk alongside the outcome.
Can you defend us if we are the ones being sued?
Yes. We represent plaintiffs and defendants in commercial disputes. Working both sides of a case teaches you how the other side values it.
Do we have to go to court?
Not always. Many disputes resolve through negotiation or mediation, but the other side takes a case more seriously when it is prepared for trial.
Contact
Put a trial lawyer on your dispute
Tell us what the dispute is about and what the documents say. We will tell you what it can recover and what it will cost to get there.
Canton Office
101 Woodland Way, Suite 1C
Canton, GA 30114
Phone: (770) 693-8715
Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Florida office, by appointment:
1831 NW 33rd Street
Oakland Park, FL 33309
Request a consultation
Confidential. No obligation. We respond during business hours, usually the same day.
Business and civil disputes go directly to Mitch Skandalakis. Prefer the phone? Call (770) 693-8715.