Business Litigation
Most businesses at some time will need expert litigation legal advice and representation to prevent or resolve disputes.
Here at Wake Smith we have an experienced and highly effective team of Commercial Litigation specialists led by Elizabeth Shaw.
Director Elizabeth Shaw has over 30 years’ experience in litigation and concentrates mainly on the property aspects of commercial litigation. Elizabeth is rightly regarded as one of the leading property litigators in the region.
Director Michael Doherty has over 20 years’ experience concentrating on heavyweight commercial disputes with a particular focus on higher value contractual and chancery matters.
Our wealth of knowledge and experience means very significant benefits for our clients in terms of cost efficiency, as we can guide clients from the genesis of disputes, assessing the merits and providing strategic advice based upon likely outcomes at a very early stage.
We have a well-established reputation for providing excellent client service, for being very commercially astute, and for delivering results.
In view of the expertise and experience within the team we can offer the same high standards of service and advice (quite frequently on high-level, specialised matters) as national law firms at lower cost, thus offering a much more value for money, local alternative.
We act for businesses both large and small and on a large array of different commercial disputes, ranging from multi-million-pound multi-party actions all the way through to matters involving only a few thousand pounds.
Our Commercial Litigation team has particular strengths in the following areas (See also our Property Litigation and Debt Recovery offerings):
- Commercial contractual disputes (including commercial insurance disputes and disputes relating to surety)
- Director/Shareholder/Partnership disputes (particularly claims based upon unfair prejudicial conduct and/or related to partnership agreements)
- Disputes arising out of the sale and purchase of businesses (particularly claims based upon breach of warranty, misrepresentation and/or fraud)
- Construction, Engineering and Machinery disputes
- Goods and Services and Product Liability disputes
- Professional Negligence and Vicarious Liability claims
- Insolvency related disputes
- NEW – Commercial mediation
Our experienced Litigation solicitors are recognised by the leading independent guide to the legal profession, The UK Legal 500.
UK Legal 500 (2025) Testimonials:
'Wake Smith have been legal advisors to our company for over 5 years, they have given expert legal advice from a number of issues, they have staff who are experts in all areas from company law, employment law and dealing with property transactions, they communicate with us well and work to deadlines, they offer value for money.’
UK Legal 500 (2023) Testimonials:
‘I would highlight Michael Doherty, who is an excellent and commercially astute lawyer. Michael dives into his cases and identifies all of the salient and strategic points. He is able to deliver pragmatic and reliable advice and is always a pleasure to work with.’
‘Wake Smith provides both commercial and personal legal services across the board. Based on my own professional experience, I particularly rate them for their business and property lawyers, who are indeed specialists in their fields very capable of providing extremely high-quality advice of a calibre matching national firms but at charge-out rates which are more competitive.’
‘Mike Doherty is a very astute practitioner, providing excellent tactical input and direction in any dispute with a confidence-inspiring and straightforward manner that gets to the heart of any matter by bringing his clear insight and bags of experience to bear.’
To make an online enquiry you can contact us here. Or to speak to our team, call 0114 266 6660.
