Material Breach?
Breaches of contract can often turn into a confusing maze of questions and legal concerns, leaving you feeling lost and full of questions: What can I do when a contract has been breached? Who do I turn to? Where do I go from here?
First off, you have to be sure that there is, in fact, a breach of contract. Once you determine if there is a breach; you have to assess to what degree or extent the contract has been breached. Is it a minor breach? Is it a material breach? Is it a fundamental breach? Is it an anticipatory breach?
Who do you turn to? Well, that depends on more factors that cannot be easily redressed in a simple blog post. If you have a decent understanding of your principle contract and the matter is, at most, a few thousand dollars, representing yourself in small claims court might be the best course of action. An attorney can provide counsel to help you determine if small claims court is right for you. If the matter is for a larger sum of money, for a slander issue, or if the issue(s) pertain to intellectual property rights, your first course of action should be to retain counsel.
If you decide to go it on your own, here are a few simple suggestions. Again, this is not legal advice. Determine where in your contract breaches have occurred. Call those breaches to the attention of the party in breach. Be sure to create a paper trail. Do not make any inflammatory statements or any statements lacking facts or proof. The last thing you want to do is make slanderous statements or accusations and exacerbate the situation. Keep a cool and level head and if you are not able to come to an amicable resolution, turn the issue over to professionals.
Remember if you have a well written, solidly binding contract you should never find yourself with any breach-of-contract issues. Planning and forethought go a long way. Finally, avoid legal battles whenever possible. Long legal battles will only hurt you in the end.
