Much of the business world is founded on contracts. These agreements set expectations so that each party knows each other’s obligations and responsibilities moving forward. This can provide stability, thereby allowing businesses to operate smoothly for the benefit of their consumers. Although contracts can be enormously helpful, they can often pose a problem, especially when the terms of the agreement are breached.
If you are involved in a business dispute stemming from an alleged breach of contract, then you need to know the law so that you can protect your interests as fully as possible. The best way to do this is to understand what actually constitutes breach, then develop legal arguments based on the facts at hand.
Although many failures to comply with the terms of a contract constitute material breach, meaning that you receive something other than what you bargained for, minor breaches can occur, too. These may be circumstances where a term wasn’t strictly adhered to, but was complied with in the end. An example of a minor breach would be a good being delivered slightly past its due date as identified in the contract.
Contracts can also be breached before the transaction memorialized in the document actually occurs. Here, the breaching party simply admits that it will be unable to comply with the terms of the contract. Although the advanced notice can be helpful, the breach can still be damaging to the non-breaching party.
You may encounter other issues with contracts, such as whether the terms are ambiguous and whether a verbal promise is legally enforceable as a contract, that can threaten the stability and reputation of your business. If you are dealing with these types of issues, then you should think about whether you need a strong advocate on your side to help you present your side of the case.