Litigation of Contract and Business Disputes
Commercial Law Attorneys Serving New Jersey Entities
Every business must enter into numerous contracts to sustain its profits and grow. Even when considerable efforts are made to negotiate and draw up a written contract that accurately reflects the intentions of both parties, misunderstandings and disputes still may arise. At the Grimes Law Firm, we are experienced New Jersey business lawyers who can help your entity pursue and defend against litigation. Each contract is distinctive, and we can closely examine the language of the agreement when advising and representing you.
Litigation of Contract and Business Disputes
Contracts into which your business may enter include vendor contracts, commission contracts, employment agreements, non-compete agreements, purchase agreements, landlord-tenant agreements, building contracts, real estate contracts, and government contracts. Some of the most common contract disputes involve a breach of contract. This happens when one or both parties to the contract fail to live up to their end of the agreement.
If you are bringing a claim for a breach of contract, you will need to establish that a defendant and you entered into a valid contract, the contract contained certain terms, you did what you had agreed to do under the contract, the defendant did not perform according to the terms of the contract, and the defendant’s breach or nonperformance caused you losses. In order to be enforceable, the contract’s terms must be sufficiently defined, such that your performance and the defendant’s non-performance may be evaluated with reasonable certainty by the court.
In some cases, a defendant materially breaches some aspect of a contract but does not repudiate the rest of the contract. In New Jersey, you may choose to continue to perform in this situation, or you may stop performing. If you decide to perform, you will no longer have an excuse to cease performance. However, you may perform and still sue for harm that your business suffered.
In some cases, an individual or business indicates that it does not plan to perform ahead of time. You are allowed to treat that decision as a breach of contract. However, the indication that the individual or business is not going to perform must be definite and clear. It is wise to consult an attorney about a decision to treat another party’s words as expressing that it does not plan to perform on the contract. Assuming that the words indicate an intent not to perform, you are excused from performing further and may treat the contract as terminated for all purposes, without waiting for the date of performance specified in the contract to come.
If you successfully establish a breach of contract in court, you will be entitled to compensatory damages for any losses that would naturally arise from a breach of that type. These are damages that are supposed to put you back into as good a position as where you would have been if the defendant had performed.
Retain an Experienced Business Lawyer in New Jersey
Contracts may bind a business owner even if they are not in writing. The litigation of contract and business disputes may be expensive. Knowledgeable legal counsel is crucial to navigating a contract dispute informally, in mediation, or at trial. Our firm is conscious of costs and can help you determine which battles are worth fighting. At the Grimes Law Firm, our New Jersey business attorneys serve clients in Neshanic Station and other communities in Somerset County, as well as throughout the tri-state area. We also can represent you if you need a securities litigation attorney to protect your interests. Call (908) 371-1066 to schedule your consultation, or contact us online.
