The first question in a commercial dispute is often where to take it. Before picking a court, arbitration or a negotiated route, give counsel a dated account of what was agreed and what happened.
1. Gather the agreed terms
Keep signed contracts, amendments, purchase orders, schedules and any incorporated terms. Preserve original files as well as copies. Check signatures, effective dates, precedence clauses and which language or version controls. If discussions changed the scope, preserve both the proposal and the document that accepted it.
2. Document performance
Collect delivery records, invoices, payments, approvals, meeting notes and the work actually supplied or received. Pair each delivery with its acceptance or objection, and match each payment to the invoiced milestone. Keep missing items visible: a clean evidence index should not conceal a disputed handover.
Where delivery timing is contested, keep the purchase order, receipt, change request and invoice together. Separate agreed facts from allegations rather than rewriting everything into one side's story.
3. Preserve communications
Save relevant email, messages and notices with dates and attachments. Do not edit originals; note who sent and received each item. Export whole threads with headers where possible, and record the custodian and time of collection. Preserve documents under the firm's retention and confidentiality controls, especially when employee or client data is involved.
4. Build a dated timeline
Record the obligation, the alleged breach, when it happened, what was communicated and the financial or operational effect. Mark facts that remain disputed. Add a source reference for every entry, including events that weaken your position. Identify who can verify each event and the earliest date on which a claim or response may need action.
5. Review the dispute clause with counsel
Bring any clause on governing law, court, arbitration, notice, negotiation or mediation. A lawyer can check its effect and any deadlines against current law and the facts. The contract may require a particular notice address, method or step before filing. Ask counsel to check that the named parties, signatures, dispute forum and any mandatory pre-action process match the transaction and current applicable rules.
6. Prepare questions about cost and next steps
Ask about evidence gaps, possible routes, fees and timing. Estimates are not guarantees; do not miss an urgent notice or deadline while organizing the file. Put expected claim value, likely evidence work, potential counterclaims and whether ongoing performance is required on the same decision sheet. Record a decision-maker and a date for the next review.
See our dispute resolution practice and corporate and commercial practice for related work.