Small print, big problems: When not reading the fine print can land you in legal hot water...

Every now and then, we deal with a legal case that’s outside of our usual remit. Usually, we’re defending wronged clients who are undergoing a business fallout, breach of contract, or any other kind of commercial dispute.?

This particular case was Defendant work that actually had a slim chance of winning outright from the outset. The client was referred to us by his accountant, having found himself in a legal minefield. A business owner had been induced into signing a substantial telecoms contract based on misrepresentations by sales agents. He signed an initial agreement, but when the full contract arrived, it was double the quoted price.

Understandably, he refused to proceed, at which point – to his horror – the telecoms company sued him for the full contract amount. Very quickly, he found himself drowning in legal jargon and feeling the weight of it all until he was referred to us.?

Our very own legal superhero Matthew O'Brien took charge; no capes involved, just a Teams call and some legal wizardry. The only catch was that our client was indeed fully liable, as he hadn’t read the agreement properly. It’s something that many of us are probably guilty of – how many people actually read the small print after all?

The terms of this contract were fairly tight, so we didn’t want to give our client false hope that he was in a position to win should it go to court. However, what we could do was liaise with the claimant through ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution).?

Soon after, Matthew and the Escalate team successfully defended him, bringing the Court case to an end and getting our client out of the contract with only 25% of his total exposure within a week of instruction. We also managed to remove the CCJ that had been placed on our client.

Bearing in mind this legal issue had been ongoing since March, with the CCJ being issued in June, to reach a resolution within a few days of us stepping in was fairly remarkable in our client’s eyes. He sent us a very grateful note after we wrapped things up in record time, thanking us for our work.?

Here’s a snippet of his email:?

"After falling foul to what I’ll call a mobile phone scam, having a CCJ issued and being caught up in a legal dispute over terms and conditions within a business-to-business contract, I very quickly found myself wrapped up in legal terminology and felt I was sinking fast.

"I was put in contact with Escalate via our accountants, and after a brief teams call with Matthew, information was sent over and he called me straight back after the weekend. At no point did he give me false hope or say I would be in a position to win should it go to a court, in fact, it was the opposite as the terms were fairly tight, but there was a chance of contacting the claimant with regards ADR.

"From this moment on I felt like the millstone had been removed from around my neck, emails were being sent to the claimant and the court, and ultimately a resolution was achieved in a very short time.

“I would like to sincerely extend my thanks and gratitude to Matthew and his team for the speedy and professional approach."

If you've been unwittingly caught up in a legal dispute, we can help. The Escalate packaged solution is designed for any kind of commercial dispute under ￡1m, and we've helped recover millions for SMEs so far. Simply get in touch with the Escalate Disputes team or email us at: [email protected].