An International Litigation Firm for High-Stakes Disputes

Yes. ME Law holds consultations in person at the office or remotely by phone or video, with your documents provided in advance; where appropriate, counsel can also meet you at another location. The format does not change the substance: the same review of the available information, legal and procedural issues, risk, strategy and next steps. After the first meeting, much of the day-to-day communication runs by phone, video and email. If further work is needed, it proceeds under a defined limited-scope retainer or a broader litigation retainer, depending on the matter.

There are five stages. A complimentary intake call with an intake specialist establishes the general nature of the matter and whether it falls within ME Law’s practice. A conflict check, required by the rules of professional conduct, confirms that the firm can act. A formal consultation follows, in which a lawyer reviews the matter in depth and discusses options and strategy. If you decide to proceed and ME Law accepts the mandate, a written Retainer Agreement sets out the scope of work, estimated costs and billing structure. The file is opened once the agreement is signed and any required retainer is received. Making an enquiry, completing the intake call or booking a consultation does not by itself make you a client.

From several months to several years, depending on the complexity of the case, its procedural path and the court. A dispute resolved early by negotiation or mediation, with clear facts and documents, can take months; contested litigation with disclosure and mediation takes longer; complex, multi-party cases with expert evidence can take several years through pre-trial and trial. Courts also expect cases to move: an action left dormant for too long can be dismissed for delay. The number of parties, the volume of documents, discovery, expert evidence, motions and court scheduling all affect the timeline.

It depends on the law that governs the claim and on the kind of claim. Limitation periods for contract and other civil claims commonly run from two to six years, and many jurisdictions start the clock when the claim was discovered — when you knew, or reasonably ought to have known, of the loss, what caused it and who was responsible — rather than on the day of the underlying event. Many also set an ultimate limit that applies regardless of discovery, and special rules can apply to particular claims (such as those concerning land or fraud) and to minors and persons without capacity. A missed limitation period usually ends the claim, so take advice on the applicable period as soon as a dispute arises.

Yes, but being left out, or receiving less than you expected, is not enough on its own: a valid will cannot be rewritten because a beneficiary considers the result unfair. A challenge needs evidence of a recognised legal defect, and the core question is whether the document truly reflects the deceased’s valid testamentary intentions. The main grounds are lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, lack of knowledge and approval, improper execution, fraud or forgery, and suspicious circumstances.

A consultation is a paid meeting, usually 60 to 90 minutes, with a civil litigation lawyer. It gives you a clear and candid initial assessment before any further engagement. Because the lawyer reviews your key documents in advance, the time goes to analysis and strategy: the facts, your legal position, the risks, the evidence that matters, the procedural steps ahead, litigation or alternative dispute resolution, likely costs and how to approach the other side. It is a preliminary assessment rather than a review of an extensive litigation record, and it does not by itself mean ME Law has been retained — the scope of any further engagement is confirmed separately.

As soon as you are involved in, or can reasonably foresee, a civil, commercial, real estate or estate dispute — not when a deadline forces the issue. Limitation periods run, evidence deteriorates and assets can move. Typical triggers include a contract, property, estate or business relationship in dispute; a shareholder or partnership falling-out; a demand letter, a statement of claim or other originating process; threatened proceedings; a loss you believe you have suffered; or an existing case approaching discovery, mediation, a motion, pre-trial or trial. Timing matters most where money, property, confidential information or assets need protection, for example through an interlocutory injunction. Booking a consultation does not mean litigation has to start.

Yes — the better prepared you are, the more of the meeting goes to analysis, strategy and risk. Send a clear written chronology (the parties, your relationship, the key dates and events, and the issue that brings you to counsel) with the documents most relevant to the dispute. For a contained matter, that is usually enough for a meaningful initial assessment. If the file runs to hundreds or thousands of pages of pleadings, affidavits, productions, transcripts or expert reports, tell us before the consultation: ME Law may recommend a limited-scope retainer or a defined document review first, because a large record cannot responsibly be absorbed shortly before a meeting. Flag any urgency when you first contact us — an imminent court date, a threatened injunction, an approaching deadline, a pending real estate closing or a risk to assets.

First contact leads to a complimentary intake call, then a conflict check, then a consultation with a lawyer (in person or remote), then a written Retainer Agreement and, finally, file opening. The engagement can be a limited-scope retainer for defined work or broader ongoing representation, depending on the record, the complexity and the procedural stage. The lawyer–client relationship begins under the signed Retainer Agreement — not simply because you have made an enquiry or had a consultation. Once the file is open, the work may include developing the litigation strategy, reviewing evidence, drafting pleadings, negotiating or preparing for proceedings in court or in arbitration.

The names of the parties involved in the dispute or the proposed engagement — enough identifying information for ME Law to check its records. Under the rules of professional conduct that govern lawyers, the firm must confirm that it does not represent, has not represented and holds no confidential information about anyone whose interests conflict with yours before it receives detailed confidential information. Please do not send large volumes of documents or a detailed account of the dispute at this stage. Once the conflict check is cleared, the matter moves to a substantive consultation. Completing the conflict check does not create a retainer or mean that ME Law has agreed to act.

It is a complimentary, preliminary conversation with an ME Law intake specialist — not a legal consultation. You may be asked about the general nature of the dispute, who the parties are, whether a proceeding has already started, any immediate deadlines or urgent circumstances, and the help you are looking for. Identifying the parties matters because the next step is a conflict check under the rules of professional conduct. The intake call, the conflict check, the consultation and the Retainer Agreement are separate stages: completing the intake call does not mean ME Law has agreed to act.

As a baseline, you can expect a meaningful update each month, and more frequent contact during active stages — pleadings, documentary production, examinations for discovery, motions, mediation, the pre-trial conference and the approach to trial. Updates come by email, with phone calls for direct discussion, video conferences for detailed strategy and in-person meetings for complex issues. While the matter waits on court timetables or the other side, contact is less frequent. ME Law aims to respond within one business day, except when counsel is in court or otherwise committed, and avoids communication that adds fees without adding value.

Transparency is central: you receive a candid assessment based on the available facts, not a promised outcome. Understand at the outset the proposed scope of work, the anticipated costs and billing — retainer funds may be required, and fees and disbursements arise as the matter proceeds — how we will communicate, and your own role. Litigation is collaborative: you will be asked to provide documents, explain the history, identify evidence, answer questions and give instructions at key stages, and ME Law will help you prepare for steps such as pleadings, documentary production, examinations for discovery and mediation. The work is kept proportionate to what the dispute requires.

Contact the firm directly and explain the concern — ME Law takes feedback seriously. It helps to identify the exact source of the dissatisfaction: communication, the direction of the litigation strategy, how a procedural step was handled, or expectations. Resolution may involve clarifying facts or developments, explaining the reasoning behind the strategy, adjusting how and how often we communicate, reviewing the scope of the engagement or considering alternative approaches — litigation strategy is often reassessed as the evidence develops.

Yes. We regularly act as lead trial and motion counsel alongside general counsel and in-house legal teams, and can step in as replacement counsel mid-file where a change in representation is needed.

Yes. We handle cross-border enforcement involving foreign counterparties and appear in domestic and international commercial arbitration.

Civil litigation is the resolution of non-criminal disputes — between individuals, businesses, corporations, estates and property owners — through the courts. Claims may seek damages, the enforcement of contractual or property rights, declarations, injunctions and other remedies. Most commercial claims are heard in the superior or commercial courts of the jurisdiction concerned, under that court’s rules of procedure, and are started by a claim or, where appropriate, an application. Unlike a criminal prosecution, civil litigation concerns private legal rights.

Among others: contract disputes (breach, repudiation, non-performance, disputed payments, warranties, guarantees and indemnities); shareholder, partnership and corporate disputes (oppression, deadlock, contested control, derivative claims and fiduciary misconduct); fraud and business torts (misrepresentation, diversion of funds, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty and asset tracing); real estate and property disputes (ownership and title, joint ownership, mortgage enforcement, commercial leases and fraud); and urgent injunction and asset-preservation matters where assets, evidence, confidential information, property or corporate rights are threatened.

No. Many matters resolve before trial through negotiation, mediation, settlement or a dispositive motion — before proceedings start, after pleadings, during or after disclosure, at mediation or at the pre-trial stage. A summary judgment motion can decide some or all issues without a trial, and some courts require the parties to attempt mediation before a case goes further. Settlement remains possible throughout, and thorough trial preparation strengthens your negotiating position.

Lack of testamentary capacity: the testator must have understood the nature of making a will, the general extent of their property and the people they would be expected to provide for — medical records, the drafting lawyer’s notes and witness evidence are typical proof, and age or a diagnosis alone does not establish incapacity. Undue influence: coercion that overpowered the testator’s independent decision-making, which the person alleging it must prove; ordinary persuasion or family pressure is not enough. Improper execution: most jurisdictions require the will to be signed by the testator and witnessed — commonly by two witnesses — and some courts can validate a document that does not meet the formal requirements if it sets out the deceased’s testamentary intentions. Fraud or forgery, which is highly evidence-dependent. Ambiguities or errors, which may raise questions of interpretation rather than validity.

Both go to whether a will genuinely reflects the deceased’s independent intentions, but they are different issues: capacity asks whether the testator had the mental ability to make a will, and undue influence asks whether someone improperly displaced their free decision-making. The evidence often overlaps — cognitive decline can raise a capacity question while also making the testator dependent on a caregiver or relative involved in changing the estate plan. A substantial last-minute change, the exclusion of earlier beneficiaries, growing dependency or a beneficiary’s unusual involvement may justify investigation, but vulnerability alone proves neither ground: the surrounding circumstances decide.