The Defense of a Breach of Contract

The Defense of a Breach of Contract - Reduce Damages - Resolve

What are the most effective strategies for the defense of a breach of contract case in San Diego or anywhere in California?  Are you concerned you may have some exposure due to a breach of contract?  The experienced business litigation and breach of contract defense attorneys at the Watkins Firm add more than 40 years of proven experience to your side of the equation.

What Happens After a Breach of Contract?

There are several valid reasons why a party may not be able to uphold their responsibilities under a business contract.  There may be an unavoidable interruption in supply channels or other unforeseeable event or world circumstance which interrupted work.  There may be a genuine dispute regarding the quality of work or materials or some other aspect of the “benefit of the bargain.” In many cases our seasoned attorneys are able to negotiate a “settlement” or other modification to the original agreement which allows the parties to complete the transaction or agree to avoid any resulting dispute.  Our attorneys use a unique approach to contract disputes which is designed to resolve the challenges at hand in the shortest possible time frame and in a cost-effective manner.  We invite you to review the recommendations of our clients who have expressed the value of our legal skill, strategy, responsiveness and efficiency.

We begin by developing a thorough and well-documented chronology of events as well as a mastery of any related damages.  These tools provide the leverage necessary to draw opposing parties into effective negotiations.  The Watkins Firm is able to resolve the vast majority of our breach of contract defense cases through effective, leveraged negotiation.  This is the shortest, and least expensive path to accomplish our client’s goals and objectives.

Mediation and Arbitration in the Defense of a Breach of Contract

There are many options for the defense of a breach of contract for your San Diego Business.  The experienced attorneys at the Watkins Firm work to reduce your exposure and resolve the dispute.  It is important to know the other party in the contract must take prudent and reasonable action to limit or mitigate the damages which might result from the contract breach.  The failure to do so can substantially lower or eliminate the ability to recover financial damages from a breach of contract.

Mediation is a private, confidential legal environment where the parties are aided by an expert third party mediator.  The mediator has experience in similar issues and disputes and helps each party to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their case and potential options for resolution.  There is a bit of a back-and-forth, often referred to by Judges as “the dance,” where parties work to find common ground and reach settlement.

Many contracts specify arbitration as an alternative to trial.  Arbitration is a highly structured legal venue that is specifically designed to bring the matter to a close within a manner of weeks.  The arbiter is agreed upon by the parties and has the power to establish the process of arbitration, marshal evidence and testimony and ultimately render a decision.

Dan Watkins Founding Partner of the Watkins FirmPro-Tip: “A lot of people get hurt or damaged by someone who breaches a contract. And then they go with this attitude that, well, since they breach, (the other party) owes and they don’t try to mitigate their damages. I mean, doing things that would make them not suffer as much from the breach of contract or other types of causes of action. And what happens in the law is a judge or a jury will hear what you did and you’ll think you’re gonna get $300,000 in trial, but they’ll decide that you failed to perform your obligation, to do everything you could to lessen the amount of damages you suffered.

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 gonna breach, but they figure it’s worth it. I mean, there’s so many other subtle things that we as lawyers think about just, just beyond the basic breach, uh, consideration damages, those things. There’s so many more complicated things, cause you’re going to battle with somebody over a breach, the contract, and you’ve got to find out whether you 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 gonna 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.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

If you have been accused of breaching a contract the Watkins Firm can provide the most effective strategies for the defense of a breach of contract case in San Diego or anywhere in California. 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.