By Attorney Jaclyn Kallie and Law Clerk Nathan Froemming

Contracts are important for any business, and if the terms of a contract are not followed, this can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. If a party is not meeting their contractual obligations, you might wonder what options you have. In a breach of contract case, you may be able to seek multiple types of remedies, including:

1. Liquidated Damages

Liquidated damages are available when the contract at issue has a clause setting damages in the event of a breach. While this may seem like a straightforward provision, there are often arguments that can be made that would call into question whether liquidated damages are appropriate under the specific circumstances in your case. For example, the contract may provide for liquidated damages only under certain types of breach.

When you agree to a contract, you expect that it will be honored. You will likely also take future actions based on the presumption that the agreement will be kept. When a party breaches a contract, the other parties to that contract have legal recourse and can bring a civil lawsuit.

Identifying a Breach of Contract

The first step in pursuing a civil lawsuit for breach of contract is identifying that there has been a breach. A breach can occur one of three ways:

• Failing to perform as promised.
• Making it impossible for the other party to perform.
• Repudiating the contract (communicating an intent not to perform).

Breach of Contract Damages

Next, you must determine what types of damages are available. Sometimes, the contract itself will set damages in case of a breach. These types of damages are called liquidated damages. If there is no such provision, or if such a provision is determined by the court to be unenforceable, the court will consider two other major types of damages.

Contractors and construction companies take a great deal of pride in their work ensuring that the buildings and construction projects they work on meet standards for quality and safety. Unfortunately, situations can occur in which a contractor is accused of performing shoddy or substandard work, and allegations of construction defects may involve damage to a property or bodily injuries. If you are facing these types of allegations, it is important to work with a skilled commercial litigation attorney who can help protect your rights and provide you with a defense against these claims.

How Can a Wisconsin Litigation Attorney Help?

An attorney can provide a wide variety of services in cases involving construction defects, including:

Do you own a small business?   Owning a business can be a stressful endeavor for many reasons.   Wisconsin business owners often rely on a “handshake” or someone’s “word” to complete day to day business.  They often do not have the time, or the perhaps the funds to have a lawyer review their contracts, purchase orders or invoices.   Even with the utmost attention to detail, people can make mistakes.   Sometimes events outside of anyone’s control cause delay in deliveries of goods, or the failure to provide services or products at a certain price.  Sometimes contracts are breached when another business owner backs out of a deal or fails to live up to their word.  

There is a real battle brewing between tech giants Apple and Samsung with regard to new advances in both Smartphone and tablet technologies. As Gimbel points out, this intellectual property fight is taking place simultaneously in 80 cases, 10 countries and four continents. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the US based case, which is primarily being fought in California's Silicon Valley. See the video below for more details into this interesting and potentially game changing clash.