The following story doesn’t involve the state of Pennsylvania, but it does involve another state filing a lawsuit against IBM over a contract dispute.

The case in question involves the state of Pennsylvania suing IBM for $170 over a dispute that dates back to 2005. The contract involved IBM developing a new computer system for the state of Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation system. That sounds like a big job, and it was. But the state of Pennsylvania claims that IBM charged taxpayers far more than they should have to complete the project. At the same time, the unemployment compensation system for the state of Pennsylvania has been a toxic and politically charged mess.

Companies face so many different legal challenges as a result of simply “doing business.” They can be sued by unhappy consumers and customers; they can be targeted by other companies that they partner with or by businesses that are their competitors; and they can even be targeted by the government, may that entity be at the state or federal level. These legal challenges can lead to very real problems for the company, even if they are able to settle or resolve the dispute.

It is for this reason alone that companies need adequate legal representation at every level of a complicated lawsuit. May the business be a small company or a large corporation, the risks are simply too great to not have a reputable attorney on your side during a contract dispute.

Source: The Morning Call, “Pennsylvania sues IBM over $170 million contract dispute,” Steve Esack, March 9, 2017