Are you searching for an experienced lawyer for a breach of contract in San Diego or anywhere in California? What should you do if you are facing a breach of contract? What are your objectives and the outcome you wish to achieve?
3 Important Takeaways When Searching for an Experienced Lawyer for a Breach of Contract in San Diego:
- If you believe your company is involved in a situation involving a breach of contract the first question is ‘What do you wish to achieve?’ If anything is possible, how would you like the situation at hand to resolve? Is there an important relationship that needs to be protected while managing the underlying contract issues? Is it a matter of timing or money? Is it simply a matter of failing to deliver on the commitment(s) in the contract?
- The fastest and least expensive strategy to resolve any breach of contract is effective, leveraged negotiation. Think in terms of the chronology of events – every detail, communication, and event in a sequence of time. Next consider what the financial impact of the breach is or might yet be. In business, financial damages are the remedy. In real estate and other applications, it may be possible to enforce the promises made within the contract itself.
- Every party has a responsibility to reduce the financial impact of the breach. This is known as ‘mitigating the damages.’ If you believe you are the victim of a contract breach, you have a duty under the law to take reasonable, timely actions and steps to reduce the financial impact of the breach. This may seem counter-intuitive, but the failure to do so can limit the amount(s) you are able to recover from a party who has allegedly been responsible for a breach of contract.
What Do You Wish to Achieve?
A breach of contract is a serious business issue, but it doesn’t necessarily have to lead to expensive and time-consuming litigation. There are several business interests to consider, and our first conversation with Watkins Firm business clients is focused upon their goals for the situation at hand. Do you simply want to settle the matter and move on with your business life? Is the breach of contract associated with a long-term vendor or supplier? While it is important to resolve the breach, it can be just as important to preserve a valuable business relationship. Our experienced business attorneys help to get to the core issues at stake such as the cause of the contract breach and the options available to both parties to resolve the issue(s) at hand.
Negotiation is the Fastest and Least Expensive Alternative in a Breach of Contract Case
It may surprise you to learn that the Watkins Firm is able to resolve the majority of our client’s breach of contract cases through effective, leveraged negotiations. As an experienced lawyer for a breach of contract in San Diego or anywhere in California I can tell you these cases are all about the sequence of events (we refer to this as the chronology of events), and the financial “damages.” Damages are the financial equivalent of what it will take to provide the party who has suffered harm from the breach with the benefit of the bargain. The victim of the beach must take prudent, timely action to mitigate the damages under the law. The party responsible for the breach should take responsible action to minimize the impact of the breach and resulting damages while seeking a resolution to the challenges responsible for the breach. If this is not possible, a settlement should be negotiated so that the parties may move forward.
It is important to establish the seriousness of the issue, while at the same time maintaining a good working relationship and an environment of cooperation and collaboration. In some cases, the Watkins Firm may be able to simply coach our client as to the best strategies and conversational tactics with the best chance of resolving the matter. In many cases, Watkins Firm attorneys are able to have conversations that our business clients simply cannot have with a vendor or supplier. Our goal is simple: to negotiate a resolution that best reflects our client’s goals and objectives for the situation at hand.
Mediation is Another Confidential, Timely and Efficient Option
There are cases that cannot be completely resolved through leveraged negotiation. In these cases a lawsuit may be filed, but the next step after that will be a settlement conference and/or mediation. We are proven trial attorneys with a strong track record of success in trial or arbitration. However, our Courts are too backlogged to handle every issue before them and the parties are required to attempt to resolve the matter months before trial through the Court’s settlement conference, or through an agreed upon mediation. Most contracts may require the parties to seek arbitration if the matter cannot be resolved through leveraged negotiation or mediation.
Pro-Tip: “So the idea, if you’re the party that’s caused the breach, would usually be to minimize the risk of the damages downstream, and resolve the matter quickly and efficiently. However, it’s even more complicated and deeper than that. You don’t have to decide that you are the person that breached because most people, their ego won’t let them do that. But if you’re being accused of breaching any contract (or believe you have), the first thing you and your lawyer should talk about or think about is how to quantify potential damages and the actions you can take with very little expense to limit those damages.
For example, in employment situations, they may be suing you for $5,000 and, and wages unpaid, but the lawyer’s gonna want to collect $50,000 in attorney’s fees. So before you even get sued or before you even answer a lawsuit, you can go to your lawyer at the Watkins Firm, and know what the causes are, and what claims have attorney’s fees clauses on them. And you can just simply remedy those before you go into the lawsuit.
Or, someone says you owe $2,000 and you disagree. Well, you could pay them and then fight the case and get your money back. There’s there’s so many situations where looking at the damages can give you a great advantage, even when you’re on the defense side or the plaintiff side, because that’s what you’re fighting about.
People who enter into most contracts we sue over, have some sort of bargaining power, or they don’t have a form of bargaining power, meaning lawsuits cost money. Sometimes people enter contracts and they know they’re probably going to breach, but they figure it’s worth it. I mean, there’s so many other subtle things that we as lawyers think about, just beyond the basic breach, and the consideration of damages. There’s so many more complicated things, because you’re going to battle with somebody over a breach of the contract, and the party who is the victim of the breach needs to find out whether they can collect. Some of these contracts are entered into by tiny corporations with no assets. And so they breach and they don’t care if you Sue them because they’re never boing to be able to pay.
So all those little subtle things about real life, how to sue somebody or how to defend a lawsuit for breach of contract, they come into play because after there’s a judgment, there’s still a collection process before there’s a payment. There’s what’s going to happen, if you are sued, to your reputation? If you sue some somebody for breach of contract, can they sue you back? There are issues of timing. Should you sue now? Or should you wait? What is the defendant doing in their life? What are you doing in your life? How is this all going to affect you? All those things are the kind of details and issues you wouldn’t learn in law school, but you learn after almost 40 years of doing this, and suing someone for breach of contract or defending someone for breach of contract gets much more complicated than just knowing the law.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner
Are You Searching for an Experienced Breach of Contract San Diego Lawyer?
Your experienced breach of contract San Diego lawyer has decades of experience and a proven track record of successfully resolving these cases in an efficient and timely manner while accomplishing our client’s objectives. If you are involved in a breach of contract and are looking for a legal partner who understands the time constraints and economic concerns of business professionals 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.
Meet Dan Watkins:
Daniel W. Watkins is a true people person who sincerely listens. He cares deeply about what others are going through. Dan enjoys digging into the facts and finding creative solutions to problems. He contributes his insights candidly and constructively.
Dan’s interest in people make him deeply invested in every relationship and his exuberant personality makes him a true litigator. Dan fights for his clients with a fierce and calculated commitment.
Dan has practiced in the areas of business, medical practices and healthcare business, high tech/science, real estate and employment defense law since 1987. He is a trusted litigation strategist and true trial attorney with over 50 jury and bench trials to his credit. Dan has successfully represented both large companies and individuals and achieved substantial victories in well-publicized trials throughout California and the U.S.
He is experienced in business and corporate formation and administration, as well as all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including binding arbitration and mediation.
THE ROAD TO BECOMING A BUSINESS LAWYER AND LITIGATOR
Dan has almost 40 years of experience working with, for and against some of the largest insurance companies in the country. He has successfully tried and litigated cases in the areas of Healthcare Compliance, Commercial Litigation, Unfair Business Practices, Fraud, Breach of Contract, Battery, Premises Liability, Product Defect, Medical Malpractice, Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Construction Defect, as well as Unfair Competition, Defamation, and Trade Secrets.
In December 2003, Dan commenced litigation against Health South Surgery Centers-West, Inc and its’ subsidiaries, exposing the company’s extensive mismanagement and misconduct of its’ surgery centers. Dan has also been asked by some of California’s largest municipalities and corporations to conduct legally required investigations into matters involving alleged employment discrimination and harassment.
