Last Updated on December 13, 2022 by Anda Malescu
In an ideal world the agreements parties enter into would be fulfilled with no dispute and therefore no breach of contract cases. However, in the real world of business, delays can happen, financial problems can occur, or any other unexpected events that would make one party unable to perform the required obligation arising out of the contract. This article analyzes what a breach of contract is and discusses breach of contract cases in the United States.
A contract creates certain obligations that have to be fulfilled by each party entering the contract. In legal terms, if a party fails to fulfill any of its contractual obligations this situation is known as a breach of contract. Depending on the circumstances, a breach of contract can occur when a party does not perform in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement, when the party fails to perform on time or does not perform at all. For example, Alice contracts with John to purchase some of his products for delivery on Monday evening. If John delivers the goods to Alice on Tuesday morning, he would be in breach of the contract. However, at this point we need to consider another important aspect and that is whether the breach is material or minor. Is the fact that John delivered the goods late an essential aspect of the contract? In other words, would the breach (late delivery) be material or immaterial?
In order to be able to answer these questions, we first have to lay out the breach of contract cases. Breaches of contract can be minor or material. A breach is likely material if one of the parties ends up with something significantly different than what was specified in the contract. In our case, if the contract stated that “time is of the essence” then, John must deliver the goods on Monday evening. If he delivers the goods after Monday, then he breaches the contract and the breach is a material breach. Therefore, Alice is entitled to damages. A minor breach, sometimes also called a partial breach or a non-material breach, can occur when one of the parties fails to perform some part of the contract even though the specified good was finally delivered. In our case, if the contract did not specify anything, then the breach caused by John is only an immaterial breach and therefore Alice is likely not entitled to damages (unless she can show that she was somehow damaged by the late delivery).
Further, breaches of contracts fall into one of the two categories. They can either be actual breaches or anticipatory breaches. An actual breach occurs when one of the parties refuses to fulfill his or her side of the bargain on the due date or performs incorrectly. On the other hand, the anticipatory breach occurs when one party sends a notification before the due date for performance that he or she intends not to perform their contractual obligations. A breach of contract, no matter what form it may take, entitles the non-breaching party to maintain an action for damages.
Contact us or schedule a consultation with your business attorney in Miami, Florida USA to assist you with your contractual needs and help you with your breach of contract cases.
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