What are the best strategies to defend a breach of contract in California? How would one know? Even if you may have shared all or some part of the responsibility for the breach of contract there are still many options to defend your position in the transaction and protect your financial exposure and business interests.
3 Important Takeaways about Strategies to Defend a Breach of Contract in California:
- A breach of contract dispute in San Diego or anywhere in California doesn’t have to result in expensive, time-consuming litigation.
- Each party in a California breach of contract scenario has responsibilities under the law. It is important to take prudent, timely steps to protect your interests and resolve the dispute at hand.
- You need to know if there are steps you are required to take to mitigate the damages, or to reduce the impact of the breach in order to protect or enhance your position in the dispute.
A Breach of Contract Doesn’t Have to Become an Expensive Dispute
A breach of contract doesn’t have to become an expensive dispute or contentious legal battle. It is absolutely possible to work through a San Diego or California breach of contract and, in some cases, still achieve the benefit of the bargain you originally anticipated. Just because one of the parties is unable to deliver under the original terms of the agreement doesn’t necessarily mean a long, expensive court battle must follow. It may seem like the transaction is in flames, but there is usually a viable solution which will work for all parties. The experienced breach of contract attorneys at the Watkins Firm have more than four decades of experience in resolving these cases quickly and efficiently, while protecting our client’s interests. We can help to resolve disputes and issues, develop a resolution or reach a settlement agreement. Our experienced, proven business attorneys protect your interests with proven strategies to defend a breach of contract in California, and seek resolution to help you to either complete a successful transaction or resolve the situation in a positive and productive manner.
It may encourage you to learn Watkins Firm is able to resolve the vast majority of our breach of contract disputes and lawsuits through effective, leveraged negotiation. This is the fastest, least expensive path to resolving any business dispute, including an alleged breach of contract.
Failure to Mitigate the Damages in a Breach of Contract
When a breach of contract occurs, the party who may be harmed by the breach must take timely, prudent and reasonable steps to mitigate the damages which might arise as a result of the broken agreement. The failure to take prompt, prudent, and reasonable action to mitigate the damages associated with the breach of contract will substantially weaken the legal and financial position of the other party. The failure to adequately mitigate the damage can reduce or eliminate their ability to recover damages from our client down the road. There are often several actions which our client’s can take to help to limit the scope of their financial and business exposure as we defend a breach of contract in San Diego.
Pro-Tip: “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.
There’s what’s called a choice of remedies in a material breach. 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 through a whole list of remedies, including provisional remedies and the list goes on and on. This is as opposed to a minor breach. Whereas your remedies are, are much less, and the primary remedy for a breach of contract is damages. That’s the term a lot of people don’t understand. What are damages?
Great question! When I advise my clients, I tell them the most important item in litigation is not whether you are liable or they’re liable, or who breached. I say the three most important things in a lawsuit are: damages damages damages.
And I say, it just like, you know, location, location, location, because it’s that important in the type of damages you can obtain are so varied that if you focus on whether you’ve been damaged under the law, there will be a statute or a case that says you are entitled to those damages. So if you track it backwards from I lost a hundred thousand dollars in this deal and how you lost it on those facts and what you did lose, you’ll probably find 99% of the time, a statute or a law or a case or something that gives you a remedy, a right to those damages and how you can collect.
And in most cases, Dan damages are going to be in the form of money. Damages are what the law can afford you in a civil case. In a criminal matter, the law can afford you incarceration of the offending criminal, but in a civil matter, since your contract and your agreement was mostly about money, then you get money back. And the only time you don’t just get money is when it’s a case where a law will afford you an injunctive or provisional remedy, which is for unique types of damages and unusual circumstances.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner
We Aggressively Defend a Breach of Contract in San Diego
What are the best strategies to defend a breach of contract in California, or here in San Diego? Just because the terms of a contract are not fully achieved or one of the parties potentially breaches the agreement doesn’t mean one party “wins” and one party “loses.” What mitigation actions should or must be taken? What are the core issues surrounding the breach of contract? What are the potential alternatives and associated compensation required for the parties to have the time or ability to complete the contract? What are the risks for each party associated with the breach of contract and how can the Watkins Firm help you to protect your position while pursuing a resolution? We work with our clients and opposing parties and counsel through negotiations, settlement conferences, mediation, arbitration, and at trial.
A breach of contract doesn’t have to result in scorched earth. You can work through a San Diego breach of contract and the Watkins Firm will help you to accomplish your goals as we defend a breach of contract in San Diego to achieve an effective result. 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.
