You have a contract with another business or an individual because you made an agreement with that party. That contract includes information about what you promised one another and creates a record of your agreement.
Unfortunately, people sometimes sign contracts with no intention so following through with their promises to others. If you find yourself in a situation where you believe that the other party has violated your contract, you may have grounds to take them to court.
Judges can uphold contracts, invalidate agreements and even award damages after a material breach of contract. How can you establish if the other party actually breached your contract?
Any failure, deviation or omission might constitute a breach
A situation that is a material breach of contract in one scenario might not be actionable in another. The terms of your contract will influence what actually constitutes an actionable breach of contract in your case. Typically, a breach of contract scenario specifically involves one party failing to do what they should according to the written terms of a contract.
If you ordered supplies from a vendor and paid the deposit, their non-delivery and refusal to communicate with you afterward could be a breach of contract. If you signed an agreement with an employee when you hired them that said they could not discuss their employment on social media in any context, posting a rant the day they get laid off from their job could be an actionable breach of contract.
Anytime someone does something specifically prohibited in a contract or fails to follow through on the promises they made in a written agreement, their actions or inaction may constitute a breach of contract.
Establishing the breach is only the first step
Determining that the other party has actually violated your agreement doesn’t resolve the dispute. However, when you review your contract and validate your concerns about a breach, you can then more effectively communicate with the other party.
When they do not respond to you or do not take appropriate steps to resolve the issue, you may then need to take them to civil court. Judges have numerous tools at their disposal that can help them resolve breach of contract issues that cause financial complications for businesses.
Signing thorough contracts and then actively seeking to enforce them will be crucial to the protection of your business as you manage daily operations.
