Breach of Contract

As the old saying goes – sometimes a contract isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. This means that, even if a contract is fully formed and properly constructed, whether it’s fully performed is only as reliable as the parties who sign it. Unfortunately, simply having contractual rights is not enough to get what you were promised when the other side does not perform. When that happens, an experienced attorney can help you enforce your rights under contract in court or in arbitration. With the attorneys at the Warren Law Group fighting for you, a contract can be worth the paper it’s printed on.

A breach of contract occurs when a party to an enforceable contract fails to perform in accordance with the contract’s terms. In order to prevail and obtain a judgment for damages in a breach of contract case, the facts of the situation must fulfill all four (4) elements: 1) the existence of a contract, 2) performance by the plaintiff, 3) failure to perform by the defendant, and 4) the plaintiff suffered damage as a result of the defendant’s failure to perform under the contract. It is worth noting that a contract whose performance would be illegal (e.g., murder-for-hire) is unenforceable in court.

Contracts take many forms and cover a wide array of subject matters. Contracts are formed to determine how a business will be owned and operated, the purchase of a product, providing a service, or how transactions like a loan or joint venture will unfold over a given amount of time. These agreements detail the legal boundaries to which each party must adhere. Additionally, a contract covers more than what is expressly mentioned in it—it extends to protection of the rights each signer has, as implied in all contracts, as well as implied duties owed to the other signers, such as fiduciary duties of loyalty, of care, and disclosure. Sometimes a breach is unavoidable and can be excused. For example, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, litigation has risen in force majeure cases—when unforeseeable events arise and make a contract impossible to perform to completion.

Breach of contract cases can be quite complex and requires an experienced attorney to properly evaluate the case’s merits and employ the best strategy to maximize the changes of a favorable result.