Atlanta Commercial Litigation Attorneys
Business disputes in Georgia courts, from demand letter to verdict.
Our Atlanta office represents companies, owners, and executives in business disputes in Georgia's state and superior courts, its business courts, and the Northern District of Georgia. The office is led by shareholder Daniel C. Headrick, who is licensed in Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas and has tried commercial, tort, and insurance cases to verdict since 2007. When a dispute reaches beyond Georgia, the firm's litigators in Nashville and Knoxville work the file with him.
$500,000
The amount in controversy needed for Georgia's State-wide Business Court ($1 million for commercial real property claims). Choosing the forum is one of the first decisions we make on a new case.
What we handle
Contract and commercial disputes
Breach of contract, supply and distribution agreements, UCC disputes, commercial leases, and significant receivables. Georgia generally allows six years to sue on a written contract and four years on an oral contract or open account (O.C.G.A. §§ 9-3-24, 9-3-25).
Owner, partner, and shareholder disputes
Disputes among LLC members, partners, and shareholders over control, distributions, buyouts, and fiduciary duties, including claims under the Georgia Business Corporation Code and the Georgia LLC Act.
Restrictive covenants and trade secrets
Enforcing and defending noncompetes, nonsolicits, and confidentiality agreements under Georgia's Restrictive Covenants Act, O.C.G.A. § 13-8-50 et seq., which lets courts modify an overbroad covenant rather than void it, and trade secret claims under the Georgia Trade Secrets Act. These cases often turn on an early injunction hearing.
Business torts
Fraud, tortious interference, conversion, and unfair competition. Georgia allows recovery of attorney's fees and litigation expenses where the other side acted in bad faith, was stubbornly litigious, or caused unnecessary trouble and expense (O.C.G.A. § 13-6-11).
Construction disputes
Payment, delay, and defect disputes among owners, contractors, and subcontractors, including lien and payment bond claims, drawing on the firm’s construction practice.
Construction law practiceBusiness court practice
The State-wide Business Court hears 17 categories of commercial disputes above its thresholds. A case can be filed there directly, removed by agreement of all parties, or transferred on one party's petition, with a $3,000 filing fee. Fulton County Superior Court's Metro Atlanta Business Case Division is a separate option for qualifying cases filed in Fulton. We weigh these at intake because they change the pace, the judge, and the cost.
Why forum matters in Atlanta
Metro Atlanta has more places to litigate a business dispute than most markets: superior and state courts in each county, the Metro Atlanta Business Case Division in Fulton County, the State-wide Business Court, the Northern District of Georgia, and arbitration. Each moves at a different speed, with different judges and different costs. For a claim near the business court threshold, that choice can matter as much as the merits, and it is usually made in the first weeks of a case.
Your Atlanta team
Georgia-licensed counsel in our Atlanta office.
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3101 Cobb Parkway SE, Suite 124, Atlanta, GA 30339. Shareholder-led from the first call.