Contracts control almost every aspect of the business world. You enter contracts with your employees, suppliers, and, potentially, your customers. When every contract is being fulfilled, your business runs smoothly. But when a business partner violates a contract, that can throw a monkey wrench into your well-oiled machine. You have the constitutionally protected right to file a lawsuit for breach of contract when this happens. However, a lawsuit can take years and could be very costly if you don’t get the results you are looking for. Avoiding court by negotiating a breach of contract settlement in Houston could save you considerable time and money.
When a business partner breaches a contract, contact our law firm immediately. Our legal team will help with every step of resolving the breach, from pre-negotiation preparation to settling.
Pre-Negotiation Preparation
Before confronting the party who violated the contract, you should prepare for a negotiation. Our experienced contract lawyers will start by assessing the strength of your case. We help you gather all relevant documentation and review the contract with a fine-toothed comb. Just because you signed the contract, that doesn’t mean you understand every aspect of it. Contracts are complicated, and often there are clauses that one party or the other isn’t familiar with. We will help you understand exactly what the contract says and what the available documentation can prove about the actions of both parties to the contract.
Your lawyer can help you understand clauses in your contract that you may not have been familiar with.
Once your attorney has determined the strength of your case using all relevant evidence, it is time to determine your goals. While you would likely prefer that the contract had never been breached, that ship has sailed. At this point, you need to decide what results will satisfy you now that the contract has been breached. Your attorney will work with you to determine what leverage you have to push the other party to agree to those goals.
Negotiation Strategies and Tactics
The main reason to negotiate is to avoid litigation. If things go well, a negotiated settlement can resolve a problem in days or weeks that may have taken years to resolve through the court system. Saving this kind of time requires effective negotiation strategies. Typically, your attorney will take the lead in all negotiations. This is because your lawyer is not emotionally invested in your case. Our lawyers can stay respectful and patient throughout negotiations, even when the other side is being recalcitrant.
When faced with difficult parties, we have several options for getting the results you are seeking. The other party may not be aware that you would prefer to avoid litigation, and we can threaten a lawsuit if necessary. However, we can also make concessions as long as we aren’t giving up on your stated goals. We have also successfully used alternative dispute resolution methods like mediation and arbitration when simple negotiation isn’t working.
The important thing is that we don’t want to let the other party stretch out negotiations too long, especially if you only discovered the breach of contract after years of violations. The statute of limitations is only four years in Texas; once it runs out, the other party will have no impetus to negotiate.
Are you struggling with a breach of contract in Houston? Call our law firm at (713) 666-1981 to schedule a free phone consultation.
Reaching a Settlement Agreement
Typically, a settlement agreement will involve some sort of compromise between you and the other party. While a court might side with you and force the other party to fulfill the original contract or pay appropriate penalties, you benefit by avoiding court. In return for that benefit, you will likely have to let the other party off the hook to a certain extent. Typical negotiated settlements include solutions like:
- Partial compensation, along with voiding the contract
- Changes to what both parties are contractually obligated to do
- Alternative actions the other party will perform to make up for violating the contract
- An extension of deadlines for the other party to complete obligations within the contract.
For most solutions, our lawyers will insist on including legal mechanisms to enforce the terms of the settlement. The other party has already shown that it is willing to violate a contract; without strong enforcement mechanisms, that may be repeated after a settlement is reached.
How a Lawyer Will Help in a Breach of Contract Negotiation
A strong knowledge of Texas law is critical to negotiating after a breach of contract. While negotiation to avoid court proceedings is allowed by Texas law, it can also lead to trouble if your attorney makes a mistake. Negotiations aren’t binding until both parties agree to new terms, and anything revealed during negotiations can potentially be used in a courtroom if the negotiations fail. This is why you need a lawyer who is familiar with all aspects of Texas contract law and has successfully negotiated other settlements after contract breaches.
We can also protect you from further breaches by making sure every clause in the contract is in writing. One of the potential affirmative defenses under the statute of frauds is that a promise wasn’t in writing. Our legal team will protect you from that defense by creating a written settlement that is ironclad. Want to learn more about how a lawyer from our law firm can help? Contact us as soon as possible.
Contact the Weisblatt Law Firm, PLLC to Speak to a Contract Negotiation Attorney in Texas
Entering into a contract is supposed to benefit your business. When another party takes advantage of the trust you put in them, it could be financially devastating. Don’t let a breach of contract ruin your business. Discuss your options with experienced lawyers as soon as possible after a contract is breached.
Do you need help from lawyers who have extensive experience helping business owners in Houston? Call our law firm at (713) 666-1981 to schedule a free phone consultation with our legal team.
Attorney Andrew Weisblatt
Mr. Weisblatt has practiced continuously since becoming licensed in 1992 and has represented businesses ranging in size from one person start-up ventures to multi-national corporations employing hundreds of people in multiple countries. From 2005 through 2009 Mr. Weisblatt was in-house counsel and chief operating officer of a multi-national corporation in the steel products industry. That in-house position provided valuable insight into how businesses work and what they actually need from their lawyers – both in-house and outside counsel. Attorney Bio
