Did a supplier breach a contract with your company and fail to provide contracted goods or services?  What steps should you take to protect your interests while holding them accountable for the breach?  It is not possible to compel them to perform as promised under the contract, however it may be in each party’s interest to negotiate a resolution that fairly compensates you for what has happened, while preserving the underlying business relationship.

California breach of contract laws provide for the recovery of financial damages associated with the contract breach.  Damages represent the financial impact of the breach of contract on your company.  Damages include not only the loss of profitability anticipated in the original transaction, but the additional cost to resolve the breach and/or find another business partner who can provide the goods or services promised under the original contract.   As the non-breaching party you are required to take prudent, reasonable and prompt action to reduce the impact of the breach of contract on your business, and mitigate any additional losses you will suffer as a result of the breach.

Did your supplier breach a contract with your company? What are the steps you should consider to manage the issue? It may be your best interest to negotiate with the supplier to resolve the issue(s) they may be facing and complete the transaction.  In many cases these situations involve a trusted and important business partner.  The experienced breach of contract attorneys at the Watkins Firm understand the legal, business and relationship issues in these cases and work to achieve our client’s goals and objectives. Draw on our more than 40 years of experience and get the right advice you need to handle the situation at hand.

Pro-Tip: “A breach of a contract is when someone breaches a material term of the agreement or an immaterial term of the agreement. And you have different remedies for either.  What are some examples of immaterial failure or a material breach? Failure to perform most of or part of the contract or an important part of a contract, anything that would render the benefit of the bargain not received.

A minor breach means that you still have a contract. You still have an agreement and you can demand performance, or you can demand that you have to give less performance on the other side, but yet the contract isn’t completely breached and it’s not over. A material breach gives you more remedies, remedies that are important and may sound minor today. But there’s been many a situation where having a material breach gives the party who was breached or damaged the right to rescind the contract or the right to specific performance, and forced the performance of the contract. All of these things have amazing consequences, if you look at factual situations in breach of contract law.

The person who’s been damaged by the breaching party has all kinds of choices they can make. And depending on the kind of contract, the subject matter of contract, whether it’s a real estate contract or a commercial contract, they have the right to choose from a whole list of remedies, including provisional remedies and the list goes on and on, as opposed to a minor breach, where available remedies are much more limited.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

We invite you to review our podcast Episode 5 – Breach of Contract as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.  Did a supplier breach a contract with your company and fail to provide contracted goods or services? We will advise you regarding the actions you should take to mitigate your losses, and the options to resolve the contract breach without time consuming and expensive litigation.