Commercial Litigation Lawyer — Commercial Lawsuits, Debt Collection and Enforcement

The Commercial Courts hear disputes between traders arising from their business, company and partner disputes, and claims tied to commercial contracts, under the Commercial Courts Law and its Implementing Regulations. The lawsuit is registered electronically on the Najiz platform, written submissions are exchanged online and many hearings run by electronic means, with attendance in person whenever the court requires it.

Commercial litigation is strict on timing and form. Certain claims specified in the regulations require the defendant to be notified of the claim in writing and given time before filing; documents are expected with the statement of claim, not at the last hearing; and objections not raised at the right moment may be lost. So our work starts before filing: examining the contract, the jurisdiction clause and any arbitration clause, then drafting a statement of claim that ties every request to an amount and a legal basis.

We also tell you at the outset whether the dispute belongs to the Commercial Court at all, or to the General Court or an arbitral tribunal the parties agreed on. Filing before the wrong forum burns valuable time and delays an enforceable judgment.

When a client refuses to pay, many business owners turn first to a collection agency that contacts and reminds the debtor. That can work with a cooperative debtor, but amicable collection firms generally cannot plead in court or file enforcement requests on your behalf. Formal collection runs under a power of attorney to a licensed lawyer, who moves the claim from calls and messages to the court and the enforcement judge.

A debt collection lawyer usually opens with a formal demand letter stating the amount, its basis and a payment deadline, which may be enough to prompt payment or a documented schedule. If the debtor does not respond, your documents decide the route: a cheque or promissory note is enforced directly, while a debt proven by a contract and invoices needs a Commercial Court lawsuit followed by enforcement of the judgment.

What most often weakens a business debt file:

The Enforcement Law treats commercial papers, including cheques, promissory notes and bills of exchange, as enforceable instruments. The holder of a valid instrument therefore does not normally need a lawsuit to prove the debt: an enforcement request is filed online on Najiz with the Enforcement Court, an enforcement order is issued and the debtor is notified to pay.

Before filing, we check the key particulars the Commercial Papers Law requires in a promissory note: the words “promissory note”, an unconditional promise to pay a fixed sum, the payee’s name, the date of issue and the maker’s signature. We also distinguish a paper note from an electronic note documented on the Nafith platform. A missing particular can turn direct enforcement into a longer lawsuit on the merits.

The debtor may object before the enforcement judge on grounds that go to the instrument itself or show payment. We build the request so it withstands that objection, and if you are the party being enforced against, we review the note and how it was signed to judge whether you have a serious objection or a settlement makes more sense.

A judgment in your favour does not mean the money is in your account. An enforceable judgment is submitted with a request to the Enforcement Court on Najiz; the debtor is then notified of the enforcement order and given the period the law allows to pay.

If that period passes without payment, the enforcement judge can take measures set out in the Enforcement Law, including disclosure and seizure of the debtor’s assets, a travel ban and the suspension of certain dealings, commonly known as a “service suspension”. Our job is to turn those tools into actual recovery: requests to disclose accounts and assets, attachment of bank balances, and follow-up on the sale of seized property and payment of the proceeds.

If you are the party enforced against, lifting a suspension usually goes through payment, a settlement accepted by the enforcing party and recorded in the request, or an objection before the enforcement judge when there is real ground for one. We read the request and its underlying instrument and explain which route is open to you and what it costs you and your business.

If you receive notice of a lawsuit before the Commercial Court, the time between notification and the first hearing is your most valuable asset. We use it to read the statement of claim and its attachments, test procedural defences such as lack of jurisdiction or an arbitration clause, then prepare a defence memo that answers the claim with documents, and file a counterclaim if you have a right against the claimant.

If the judgment goes against what you asked for, an appeal before the Court of Appeal is the usual way to have it reviewed. It is filed online with an objection memo setting out the errors in the judgment, within the statutory period. Once that period lapses the judgment becomes final, so send it to us as soon as it is issued so we can calculate the deadline and start the memo. In specific cases the law then allows a further objection by cassation before the Supreme Court.

If the claim against you rests on a cheque or promissory note, you may receive an enforcement order rather than a statement of claim, and any objection then goes to the enforcement judge. Either way, settlement remains open while the case is pending; once the court records it, it becomes enforceable and may spare you several rounds of hearings and memos.

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