Bergen County Lawyer for Contract Disputes

Advocacy in Business Breach of Contract Matters

Business law is a complicated field of law, with many intersecting legalities that require attention and protection. Establishing and discussing contracts is a way businesses are able to ensure this protection. The use of these contracts ensures that certain terms and agreements are met or legal action can be taken. But with the enforcement of contract terms comes disputes about whether those terms were met or were equitable.

At M. Ross & Associates, LLC, we have experience in resolving business disputes. If your business is facing a contract dispute, skilled legal counsel from our Bergen County attorneys can help you achieve the results you want.

Request assistance with your business contract dispute today with a case evaluation!

Types of Contract Disputes

When a business contract is signed, it is understood that both parties agree to the terms stated within the contract. However, sometimes things don’t go as intended or promises go unfulfilled.

If your business agreement is broken, you should know whether your breach of contract was material or non-material.

The difference between the two is defined as[M1] :

• Material breaches - Contracts that are broken in a way that defies the whole reason why the contract was established. The fundamental roots on which it was established are broken.
• Non-material breaches - Breaches that violate terms of a contract but do not defy the point of the contract completely. An agreement can withstand a non-material breach.

Our business contract attorneys have help clients throughout Bergen County with both material and non-material contract breaches and disputes. If your contract has suffered from a breach, we can help provide the legal advocacy you need during discussion and reevaluation. Courts are more likely to be involved in this kind of violation and we are more than prepared to represent your business.

Pandemic-Related Contract Disputes and Force Majeure

Contract disputes were already difficult to navigate before the pandemic, which is why parties with contracts affected by COVID-19 must become familiar with common issues they might encounter.

Underlying contracts in these disputes will often have provisions concerning unforeseeable events that may prevent or impede the performance of contractual duties. An example of these provisions is a force majeure clause, which can release the breaching party from liability if certain unforeseeable events beyond the party's control occur.

Litigation for pandemic-related contract disputes will also determine if the “triggering event" in question can be considered an occurrence that excuses nonperformance. Nonperforming parties will be claiming the pandemic or certain government restrictions, or even both, should excuse their breach.

• If the contact was created after initial reports of the pandemic, you can expect parties to argue over whether the pandemic or government action was sufficiently "unforeseeable" to count as a triggering event.
• If the contract was created before the pandemic was reported, nonperforming parties will claim this qualifies as an unforeseeable occurrence that was beyond their control.

Nonperforming parties will need to prove that the triggering event was the "proximate cause" of their inability to perform contractual duties.

A valid defense will include the following elements to establish proximate cause:

• A direct causal link between the triggering event and nonperformance
• How the nonperforming party conducted its due diligence to avoid the effects of the triggering event
• Which reasonable alternatives were exhausted by the nonperforming party

If you are anticipating a contract dispute because your business contracts were impacted by COVID-19, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our law firm so we can assess your situation and get started building a strong legal strategy to protect your best interests.