The question is not whether you are right
Almost everyone who describes a dispute to a solicitor is, on their account of it, right. That is not the useful question. The useful question is what it costs to establish that you are right, how long it takes, how much of the cost you get back, and whether the other side can pay anything at the end of it.
Four numbers decide whether a claim is worth bringing, and none of them is the merits.
Before you issue anything
- What is genuinely recoverable, not what you feel you are owed. Interest and recoverable costs count; frustration does not.
- What it costs to get there. Court fees scale with the claim, and disclosure is usually the expensive part rather than the hearing.
- How much of that comes back if you win. In the small claims track, essentially none of your legal fees.
- Whether the defendant can pay. A judgment against an empty company is a piece of paper with a court seal on it.
What usually resolves it
In roughly descending order of how often each one ends the matter, and ascending order of what each one costs.
- 01Days
A letter that sets out the case properly
Not a threat. A letter that shows the other side you have the documents, understand the law and have worked out the numbers changes the calculation on their side of the table too.
- 02Days
A settlement offer with costs consequences
Under Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules an offer can be made that, if refused and then beaten at trial, shifts the costs of the whole action onto the refusing party. It is the cheapest leverage in English litigation.
- 03Weeks
Mediation
A neutral third party, usually a single day, confidential and without prejudice. Settles a high proportion of commercial disputes and costs a fraction of a trial. Courts increasingly expect it to have been attempted.
- 04Months
Issuing proceedings
Sometimes the only thing that produces movement, and sometimes genuinely necessary. It should be a decision taken with the costs of the whole route already understood, not a reflex.
Litigating, or not
Worth litigating
- Substantial sum, documented, and a solvent defendant
- A point of principle that affects other contracts you hold
- The other side has stopped engaging entirely
- A limitation deadline is approaching and nothing else has worked
- Costs are recoverable because the claim is above the small claims limit
Settle, or walk away
- The claim is under about £10,000
- The evidence rests on what was said rather than what was written
- The defendant has no assets worth enforcing against
- The commercial relationship is worth more than the sum in dispute
- The costs of proving it approach the value of proving it
Disputes that cross the two countries
Where the parties, the contract or the assets sit in both Lithuania and the UK, the first decision is which country hears the case, and it should be made on where enforcement will happen rather than on where it is convenient to sue. That question, and post-Brexit enforcement generally, is dealt with in detail on the cross-border disputes page.
The practical difference here is that both sides of the matter run on one file. There is no correspondent firm abroad, no second retainer, and no translation layer between you and the advice.
What it costs
Contested litigation cannot honestly be sold on a single fixed fee, because neither side controls how the other behaves. You get a written estimate before anything starts, broken down by stage, and you are told when something happens that moves it. Discrete steps such as a letter of claim or drafting a settlement offer can usually be fixed. The published scale for straightforward debt claims is on the fees page.
Common questions
Is my dispute worth taking to court?
It depends on four things, and the merits are only one of them: the recoverable sum, the cost of getting there, how much of that cost comes back if you win, and whether the defendant can actually pay. Below about £10,000 the costs rules mean litigation usually does not pay for itself even in victory.
Can I recover my legal costs if I win?
Partly, and it depends on the track. In the small claims track, normally up to £10,000, legal costs are essentially not recoverable. Above that, a successful party usually recovers a proportion of its costs rather than all of them. Assume a meaningful shortfall.
What is a Part 36 offer?
A formal settlement offer with costs consequences built in. If the other side refuses it and then fails to beat it at trial, they can be ordered to pay your costs from the date the offer expired, often with enhanced interest. It is the most effective pressure available in English civil procedure and it costs very little to make.
Do I have to try mediation first?
It is not an absolute requirement in every case, but the courts expect parties to consider alternatives to trial seriously, and an unreasonable refusal to engage can affect the costs order even for the winning party. As a commercial matter it is usually worth doing on its own merits.
How long does a commercial claim take?
An undefended claim can reach judgment in a couple of months. A defended commercial claim that runs to trial is realistically a year or more, and disclosure rather than the hearing is normally where both the time and the money go.
Is there a deadline for bringing a claim?
Yes, and missing it ends the claim regardless of its merits. For most contract and tort claims in England and Wales the period is six years, with shorter periods for some claims and different rules in Lithuania. If you think a deadline may be close, take advice immediately rather than after gathering documents.
This page states the law of England & Wales and Lithuania as at 18 August 2026. It is general information, not advice on your matter, and reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship.