As a business owner, you know that your success depends on your contractual partners’ fulfilling their obligations. Whether that means they pay you for your services or provide the resources that you need to operate your business, business contracts exist for a reason. When a supplier fails to deliver the goods they promised, for example, you may be unable to fulfill your obligations to others. You can take legal action, but how do you prove the essential elements of a breach of contract claim?
Succeeding in this type of claim requires strong evidence, such as financial records, documentation of communications with the other party, and proof that the contract was valid. Contact The Weisblatt Law Firm, PLLC, today to learn how to properly secure and preserve critical evidence.
Essential Elements of a Breach of Contract Claim
Before your Houston contract lawyer acts on your breach of contract claim, they will make sure you have enough evidence to support that claim. The evidence must prove each of the following essential elements:
- A legally binding contract exists.
- You fulfilled your obligations as outlined by the contract (or were willing to fulfill those obligations if they hadn’t yet come due).
- The defendant failed to meet their obligations as detailed in the contract.
- You suffered financial losses because the defendant breached the contract.
Once your Houston business attorney has enough evidence to prove each of these elements, they can push forward with your case.
Types of Evidence in Breach of Contract Cases
Different types of evidence are needed to prove each of the elements of the claim, and your case might require only certain types. The following are the most common evidence categories that business lawyers use when pursuing breach of contract cases.
Valid Contract
The first piece of evidence that your lawyer will probably look at is a physical or digital copy of a written and signed contract. Physical copies typically are best, especially if they include notarized signatures from both parties. Your attorney will also examine the contract wording, looking for ambiguous language that could potentially harm or strengthen your case.
Communications
Even if you can prove that another party signed a contract, they might still claim that they signed it under coercion or didn’t understand the terms. Fortunately, communications like emails, letters, and text messages can prove that the defendant willingly entered into the contract, knowing what it entailed. Similarly, communication records can prove when and how the other party violated the terms.
It is critical to preserve all communication records. These can include voice recordings of conversations that happened within Texas. In this state, these recordings are legal as long as one party is aware and consents.
Financial Records
The simplest way to prove that you suffered monetary losses is with financial records. Since businesses are required to maintain extensive records for legal and tax purposes, these documents should be readily available.
Witness Testimony
If you haven’t recorded critical conversations, you may be able to rely on witness testimony about the contents of those conversations. For example, if an employee or a notary public was present during a relevant event, their testimony could be essential to your case.
Expert Testimony
Typically, expert testimony is needed only if a case goes to trial. When that happens, experts in your field can interpret technical details for the court or explain industry standards in an unbiased way.
If your business has suffered due to a breach of contract in Texas, contact The Weisblatt Law Firm, PLLC, at (713) 666-1981 to schedule a free phone consultation.
Gathering and Preserving Evidence
The best time to start preserving evidence is long before the contract is breached. If you keep every document related to your contract from the moment you contact the other party, you are better protected against malfeasance. Keep your records organized so that you can easily provide them to your lawyer if needed. You should also preserve digital documents, preferably on multiple drives or servers.
Hopefully, this preparation is unnecessary. But if you ever face a contract-related dispute, your attorney can use your extensive records to build your case without fear of running afoul of the statute of limitations.
The best way to protect yourself during a contract dispute is to start preserving records related to the contract from the moment you and the other party first discuss the potential terms.
Presenting Evidence in Court
Gathering evidence isn’t enough to win a case. Your attorney needs to know how to present it in a way that ties the evidence together. One challenge to this is that some types of evidence are not admissible under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and other types are excluded in specific circumstances. An experienced lawyer will help you gather and preserve evidence in compliance with these rules and will fight any unfair motions to suppress evidence.
Why Choose The Weisblatt Law Firm, PLLC, for Breach of Contract Cases?
Our law firm has a long history of representing Texas businesses in all types of business law cases, helping clients get fair compensation when another party breaches a contract. If your Houston business is a victim of a breach of contract, you need an attorney who is familiar with Texas laws and who has handled countless cases in the state. Contact The Weisblatt Law Firm, PLLC, today to learn more about your rights and how we can help.
Contact a Breach of Contract Attorney in Houston Today
Has your business been financially damaged due to a breach of contract by another party? Texas law allows you to get compensation for that breach. The lawyers at The Weisblatt Law Firm, PLLC, will fight to protect your company’s finances and its reputation.
Don’t allow the actions of another party to cause irreparable harm to your business. When another party breaches a contract, our law firm will help you get fair compensation for your losses. Call us today at (713) 666-1981 to get a free phone consultation from experienced contract law attorneys.
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
