Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Disputes definition

What does Disputes mean? In legal practice, disputes are disagreements giving rise to potential legal rights and remedies between parties, addressed through dispute resolution including litigation, arbitration and ADR such as mediation and negotiation. The term is descriptive rather than a defined statutory concept; the substantive rights and procedures arise from statute and common law. Typical features include identification of the cause of action, applicable limitation periods, choice of jurisdiction and forum, compliance with pre-action protocols or pre-action correspondence, disclosure/discovery, evidence, settlement, costs and enforcement. Usage is broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, though civil procedure differs: CPR in England...

Contractual Construction in Practice: A Step-by-Step Guide to Reading, Whole-Agreement Context, Factual Matrix, Commercial Common Sense, Managing Ambiguity and Rectification

Published by a LexisNexis Dispute Resolution expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note

This Practice Note sets out a hands-on framework for dealing with disagreements about the proper construction of a contract. It draws on the principles of contractual construction contained in the following Practice Notes and should be considered alongside that guidance:

Contract interpretation—the guiding principles
Contract interpretation—rules of contract interpretation

The situations in which such disagreements emerge are endlessly diverse. Yet, whether it surfaces as a client approaching you about an unforeseen demand from a contracting counterparty, or as the reply from a third party on whom you have served such a demand, the core refrain is the same—‘that’s not what was agreed’. Once that contention is made, practitioners will typically seek to conclude the dispute promptly and without resort to costly proceedings. A firm understanding of how a court would tackle the construction of the disputed term(s) will allow you to make assured decisions about whether it is in the client’s best interests to litigate if a satisfactory compromise cannot be achieved. The focus is on written agreements. Judgments frequently articulate the key guiding principles of approach. Case law often distils and presents these overarching tenets of approach in clear, practical and concise terms too. One notably accessible...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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