Are you searching for effective strategies and how to handle a business breach of contract?  Has a supplier, vendor, partner or customer failed to abide by the terms of the contract?  Are you unable to complete the work or fulfill the terms of a business contract you’ve entered into?  What is at stake and how are these situations usually resolved?  Why do you need the right attorney?

Important Takeaways about how to Handle a Business Breach of Contract:

• You need an effective, proven business dispute resolution attorney who will work to protect your interests, while resolving the matter in a cost-efficient and timely manner.
• Each party has responsibilities, even in a breach of contract.
• The party who is the victim of the contract breach has a responsibility to take prompt, reasonable and prudent action to mitigate the damages.

You Can’t Legally Force a Party to Do Something Contractually (Except in Real Estate)

You can’t legally force a business partner to fulfill their end of the bargain in a contract (known as “specific performance” under the law) unless the transaction involves real estate.  So if a party can’t be compelled to fulfill an agreement the question is how to handle a business breach of contract?

What are the “Damages?”

The real answer to the question of how to handle a business breach of contract from a legal perspective is “what are the damages.”  Damages are the financial impact of one party not being able to receive the benefit of the bargain.  In a breach of contract there are several principle types of damages a Court would consider including but not limited to ordinary (general), nominal, liquidated, compensatory and punitive.

Ordinary or general damages may best be understood as the difference in cost between what a party had agreed to and what it cost to replace the non-performing contractual partner.  If the cost of a widget under the contract was to be $14 and the next best provider of the widget charges $17 per widget the ordinary damages would be the difference, or $3 per widget. Nominal damages may be awarded if there was no actual financial loss by the victim of the breach but the Court wants to make a symbolic gesture indicating which party was right.

Liquidated damages are usually specified within the contract itself.  If party A does not complete their portion of the contract by a certain date they must pay the other party $100 per day until the contract is fulfilled.  Liquidated damages cannot be excessive in the eyes of the Court or California Law.  Compensatory damages are basically the actual financial cost of repaying the actual costs borne by the other party as the result of the breach.

Punitive damages are a tool for the Court to use for punishing the party who broke the contract and to deter others from doing the same in the future.  While rare in a breach of contract itself, punitive damages come into play when fraud or other types of legal issues overlap the breach of contract itself.

Do You Know What to Do With a Breach of Contract?

Do you know how to handle a business breach of contract in San Diego or anywhere in California?  It may surprise you to learn that each party has legal and financial responsibilities in a breach of contract scenario.  The victim of the breach is required to notify the other party of the breach and take prudent, timely action to mitigate or limit the damages (the financial impact) associated with the breach.  The failure to do so can actually harm their ability to collect full (or any) damages down the road.

The party who has breached the contract also has a responsibility to mitigate the damages associated with their actions or inaction.  There may be specific rights provided within the contract itself to amend, modify or terminate the agreement but you will need sound legal counsel in these matters.  You need to know what to do with a breach of contract and take the correct and timely action(s) which result.

How Can the Watkins Firm Help to Resolve a Breach of Contract?

The Watkins Firm takes a unique approach to resolve breach of contract disputes which involves negotiation mediation or arbitration to resolve your dispute quickly and in a cost-effective manner.

If there is a breach of contract on a California business contract what is the best strategy for resolution?  Should you consider negotiation, or immediately push for mediation or arbitration? Each case is going to be fact specific, but in most scenarios once a contract is in breach (or if one of the parties has provided notice of a failure to be able to fulfill the agreement) the Watkins Firm is able to thoroughly document the chronology of events and associated damages and seek a timely, leveraged negotiation to reach a settlement.  This is the fastest and often least expensive route for all involved and how to handle a business breach of contract in San Diego or anywhere in California.

Pro-Tip: “So what’s the first step that our clients or a business should take if they’re being sued? It is totally relevant and important question, absolutely necessary. When you finally get sued, first things first, you’re going to find out about a lawsuit, either by being served or someone’s going to tell you. You’re going to find out in a multitude of ways, and that’s very important how you find out. Because when you find out there’s going to be a a time clock ticking away of action items you have to take in order to have that lawsuit go your way, the longer you wait, the worse it gets for you.

So you’re going to want to find out, and I’m going to want to know as a lawyer, how did you find out? Did someone who’s suing you tell you? Did somebody who’s a potential witness tell you, did you get some kind of letter from a lawyer? Or did you get served with a process server? All those things have implications. So once you’ve gathered yourself, organized your thoughts and you know the facts and the dates, contact  us at the Watkins Firm right away for a free consultation.

We will talk to you and we find out first things first, how you know when you knew and if you haven’t been served yet. We have everything on computer. We find out if in fact you are being sued by who and which you copy the complaint. So with a copy of the complaint before they know you have it, you have a great advantage. You can take action to mitigate the damages or remediate the situation altogether before the plaintiff’s attorneys ever get into action! So that’s the first thing we do. And we provide you with vital information right away before you even have to tell me the story. I’m going to give you information that you need.

This is why you want to hire a lawyer, you want to hire the Watkins firm. Somebody has hired a lawyer to go after you. What that means is they’ve literally hired a professional hitman to go after your money or your rights, who’s good at it. You wouldn’t play chess without knowing the rules. You wouldn’t even play checkers. And that’s what it’s like representing yourself. Going into a game where you don’t know the rules and anything you say can be used against you. You have to have a really good, experienced lawyer, even if it’s just to get an initial consultation about where you’re supposed to go and what you’re supposed to do. You need to get a lawyer on your side.

We’re going to listen. We’re going to listen as lawyers and we’re going to be interested and we’re going to care. What you say means more to us than you can imagine because it’s the keys to us solving your litigation problem. You provide us with detailed information, things that are bothering you, upsetting you, all those things matter to us and we’re able to organize them in such a way that every piece of information you give us turns into ammunition we can use to defend you.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

As experienced business lawyers and contract attorneys, we understand the critical nature of contract performance and the impact it has on business operations.  We are also interested in protecting our client’s interests in the most effective and cost-efficient manner possible. Are you unable to fulfill contractual obligations?  Are you the victim of a breach of contract?  Do you know how to handle a business breach of contract in San Diego or California?  You need sound legal advice and counsel immediately to protect your own interests, limit financial losses and take the right timely action(s) required by law.  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.