Breach of Contract

Breach of contract arises and results from one or more parties to a binding contract failing to live up to a term or terms of that contract. With some exceptions, contracts can be written or oral. For those oral contracts that are valid, they are as enforceable as written contracts. The difficulty with an oral contract is proving that a contract exists and what its terms are.

There are various remedies for breach of contract. Usually, the courts will compensate the damaged party with an award of money called a judgment. In some rare circumstances, the courts may order specific performance. Specific performance is where a party must perform in accordance with the terms of the contract. That would happen where no one else is capable of doing the work set out in the contract.

In almost all cases the court will issue a judgment. An example might be where you had a person in to install granite countertops in your kitchen and the countertops were cut or installed badly, or both. The company refused to repair its shoddy work and you had to sue them.

In that case you would likely not want that company to do the remedial work required. You might feel that they lack the ability to do a good job since they botched it the first time. Also, there is frustration on both sides and you might worry that if they come back, they might do even greater damage out of spite. In that case, you would get quotes to repair the work and ask the court to award you that amount in order to put you in the position that you would have been in had the first company done the job as it should have at the price that it had agreed to charge you. The breach in this case is that the first company did not complete the job in a good and workmanlike manner as they were expected to do within the terms of the contract or in compliance with industry standards.

This is just one example. If you have a breach of contract issue, it will be unique to your situation.

Call A. Perlman Paralegal Services Professional Corporation to obtain a comprehensive evaluation of your specific case and to determine how best to proceed with your matter.