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Breach of Contract FAQs
We have the knowledge, experience and resources to represent you in cases related to:
- Breach of Contract
- Partnership Disputes
- Failure to Perform
- Payment and Collection
- Business Tort Claims
- Fraud
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- Business Purchases
- Employment Law
- Business Disputes
- Unfair Competition
- Non-Compete Agreements
- Misrepresentation
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Our Winning Philosophy
BREACH OF CONTRACT AND OTHER CIVIL LITIGATION
Suffered a breach of contract, or are you being falsely accused of breaching a contract? We bring the knowledge and methods necessary to quickly resolve breach of contract matters and any other business litigation matters throughout Orange County and Southern California. We are results-oriented, with a constant eye on the bottom line. Our cutting-edge technology and techniques allow us to bring you the highest quality legal services, usually at a fraction of the cost charged by other firms. Be sure to visit our Victories
page and News Items to see how we approach litigation.
What is a Breach of Contract?
Most contract breaches are easily identified and require no definition. But sometimes you have a breach of contract that is not worth pursuing. You need to determine whether the breach was material and caused damages.
Say, for example, you hire a contractor to paint the outside of your office building. The contract provides that the job will be completed by June 1, but does not provide for any penalties (usually called "liquidated damages"). June 1 comes and goes and the job is not completed. You call the painting company and complain, send a letter or two, and finally the painters show up and the job is finished on June 9. Clearly there has been a breach of contract, but was it material, and did it cause damages?
In terms of damages, did the eight day delay keep you from renting office space? Did it prevent you from using any portion of the building? You may have been frustrated by the delay, but did it really cost you any money? You see, a breach of contract does not always mean that you can or should sue.
The Restatement (Second) of Contracts lists the following criteria to determine whether a specific failure constitutes a breach:
In determining whether a failure to render or to offer performance is material, the following circumstances are significant: (a) the extent to which the injured party will be deprived of the benefit which he reasonably expected; (b) the extent to which the injured party can be adequately compensated for the part of that benefit of which he will be deprived; (c) the extent to which the party failing to perform or to offer to perform will suffer forfeiture; (d) the likelihood that the party failing to perform or to offer to perform will cure his
failure, taking account of all the circumstances including any reasonable assurances; (e) the extent to which the behavior of the party failing to perform or to offer to perform comports with standards of good faith and fair dealing.
American Law Institute, Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 241 (1981).
RESPECTED BY THE LEGAL COMMUNITY:
"Perhaps it is my age or 40+ years of experience in the law, but it is compelling to comment that the performances of both counsel in this case, in terms of dedication to the law, to their clients, and to their scholarship make me proud to again call myself a 'Lawyer.'"
-- Orange County Superior Judge Robert J. Polis (Ret.), commenting on the performance of counsel from Morris & Stone.
