You believe that a contract was breached and you — and your company — were wronged. You want to go to court to get compensation.
For example, perhaps a parts supplier agreed to give you a shipment of a certain size. You took orders based on the projected availability of those parts. Then the shipment came in and it was half as large as expected. That means you can’t fill your orders, costing you money and customers.
That’s just one example of a potential breach; these happen in many different ways, in a multitude of industries. If you do decide to go to court, there are four key points that need to be addressed:
- It must be shown that there is a valid contract. This why it’s so critical to get contracts in writing.
- You have to show that the other party then breached that contract. In the above example, this may be as simple as showing that the amount of parts received was not the same as the contract specified.
- You need to show that you upheld your end of the bargain and fulfilled your own contractual requirements.
- You must have told the other party about the breach. Doing so in writing is preferable. This way, if it is a simple mistake — the shipping company failed to bring half of the order, for example — the two of you may be able to rectify it.
Contract disputes can get complicated, but this gives you a good idea of where to begin. Be sure you really understand all of the legal options that you have moving forward.
Source: The Balance, “Breach of Contract,” Jean Murray, Oct. 13, 2017