Houston Breach of Contract Lawyer
Businesses breach contracts every day, which is why you need a Houston breach of contract lawyer. Whether you’re accused of breaking a contract or you’ve suffered losses because another party hasn’t lived up to its obligations, the Weisblatt Law Firm can help.
Businesses enter into contracts when they outsource work, lease equipment, hire key people, provide their services or goods to customers, or buy or lease office, commercial, or industrial real estate. The contract could be as minor as paying for office cleaning services or as critical as licensing intellectual property or entering a joint venture with another company. A contract should provide certainty which allows you to plan how your business will operate, spend its money, and receive revenue in the future.
A breach puts those plans and expectations into doubt. You can’t plan for the future because you can’t rely on the other party. It may make your operations more difficult; your costs may increase; or your income may be less than expected.
Your company may breach an agreement for many reasons:
- The other party withheld critical information, so the deal isn’t nearly as profitable as you expected.
- Due to circumstances beyond your control, your costs of complying rose dramatically, and you’re losing money.
- The other party took advantage of the contract by using your confidential information against you.
No matter which side of the contract your business is on, the Weisblatt Law Firm can help. We will thoroughly investigate the situation. Based on the evidence we find, we will advise you of your rights, propose a course of action, and zealously defend your rights and pursue your interests. Breach of contract lawyer Andrew Weisblatt has helped hundreds of clients involved in contract disputes, and he can help you, too.
Four issues must be resolved if one party claims that another breached a contract:
- A valid contract is at issue.
- It was materially breached.
- One party suffered harm as a result.
- Legal claims were filed within the statute of limitations.
A Valid Contract is in Dispute
A Breach of Contract Lawyer Can Tell You Whether the Contract Appears to be Valid and Enforceable
A contract is a legally binding agreement between at least two parties that creates an obligation to perform (or not perform) a particular duty. It must have the following elements:
- An offer
- An acceptance
- Mutual consideration (the parties exchange things of value)
- The parties can be legally bound
- The contract is for a legal purpose.
A defense to a breach of contract claim is that no contract existed at the time, so there’s nothing to breach. Depending on the facts, any or all of these elements could be disputed. The party accused of the breach may claim:
- No offer was made, and the parties were just in preliminary discussions. The offer must be effectively communicated, and if it was unclear and lacked certain and definite terms, there can’t be acceptance
- They didn’t accept an offer because they were the victim of fraud or coercion, so there was no intent to accept and no “meeting of the minds” (a mutual understanding and agreement of the subject matter and the contract’s essential terms). Acceptance must be unqualified. If it’s conditioned on something else happening, that’s not acceptance – just continuing negotiations.
- There’s was no consideration. This was just a gift with no expectation of anything in return. Consideration can be an exchange of goods or services. One party need not give the other money in order for the contract to be binding. The thing of value can be a party’s agreement not to do something it has a right to do
- Performance is excused because of an act of God (such as an extreme weather event), it’s impossible due to facts not known when the contract was reached, or it’s impractical due to no fault of their own.
- Parties can’t be legally bound if they’re minors or not mentally competent.
- The contract was for an illegal purpose, like selling drugs or exchanging stolen property.
If a court finds the agreement or a relevant term invalid, there’s no breach of contract claim.
A binding contract generally need not be in writing unless it’s the subject of state statute. The Texas statute of frauds lists contracts that must be written and signed to be enforceable, including the sale of real estate, lease of real estate for more than a year, an agreement to do something that will take more than a year to perform, and a loan agreement. The Texas Business and Commercial Code requires a written contract for the sale of goods worth $500 or more.
A binding contract could be based on words verbally exchanged by the parties or implied through the parties’ actions. An implied contract, or quasi-contract, can be enforceable. Looking at the evidence, the judge may find it would be unfair if a party wasn’t compensated for performing an act done in exchange for something from another party.
The Breach Involves a Material Aspect of the Contract
Whether the Breach is Material Needs to be Reviewed by a Breach of Contract Attorney in Houston
The next step would be showing the opposing party breached the contract’s material term(s). If the breach is not material, it’s a minor issue resulting in minimal losses. If so, the other party must continue living up to its obligations. If it’s material, the other party need not live up to the agreement and instead can sue to force the other party to comply, pay for the harm it suffered, or both.
A court deciding whether a breach is material will consider many issues, including:
- How much harm was caused
- How well the non-breaching party can be compensated for the harm
- How likely it is that the breaching party will remedy the breach
- Whether the evidence shows the breaching party is acting in good faith.
These are highly technical and complex issues that are best left to a breach of contract lawyer, especially if substantial amounts of money are at issue.
You Suffered Damages Due to the Breach
A Breach of Contract Attorney Can Determine What Damages You Suffered and Their Amount
This is the harm you suffered because the other party didn’t live up to its obligations. Your breach of contract claim will be dismissed if you can’t show damages. You have the burden of proving that the other party breached the contract and that you suffered negative consequences as a result.
You need credible, not speculative, evidence backing your damages claims. A damages award can’t be based on your opinion of how you think your business suffered. You must have evidence to back it up.
If you win the case, you should be put in the economic position you would have been in if no breach had occurred. Available damage awards could be:
- Liquidated or actual damages, the financial harm you suffered
- Specific performance, or a court order that the breaching party must perform its contractual obligations
- Consequential and incidental damages for foreseeable, future injury due to the breach
- Recission or the return of money provided to the other party as part of the contract
- Restitution or the return of goods supplied to the other party as part of the contract
- Attorney’s fees needed to successfully prosecute the case.
A breach of contract attorney in Houston can make sure you claim all the damages you can collect and back them up with evidence the court will accept.
Legal Claims Are Filed in Court Within Four Years of the Breach
Get Help from a Houston Breach of Contract Lawyer to Help Prevent Your Case’s Dismissal
Every cause of action has a statute of limitations, or deadline, to file claims. If the deadline is missed, unless there’s a valid excuse the case will be dismissed. Under Texas law, the deadline is four years from the date of the breach.
The case may continue if the deadline has passed if the harmed party was not aware of the breach due to the breaching party’s intentional or fraudulent concealment of information. In these situations, the party has four years from discovering the breach to file in court.
What Can You Do if You’re Involved in a Contract Breach Dispute?
A Breach of Contract Lawyer Can Help You No Matter How the Issue is Resolved
If you believe a contract has been breached, contact our office. You should do the same if you believe you have a valid reason to breach a contract you’ve entered into. Like any dispute, these situations should be handled as professionally as possible. If this was a business arrangement, don’t take it personally and turn this into a personal campaign of revenge.
Making accusations, pointing fingers, and questioning the ethics, standards, or legality of their actions may result in another problem – libel claims. If you publish negative and false information that harms the other party, they may have a valid basis to sue your company.
What’s happening may be the result of poor communications and misunderstandings. With our help, you may clear the air and get to the bottom of the problem. If both sides act in good faith, you may find that some changes can get the relationship and contract back on track, or the two of you may realize it’s time for the contract to end and both sides should move on. That may mean one party compensates the other in some way, or the two of you may both take actions to make the best of a bad situation.
Like all civil legal claims, very few of these disputes resolve through trial. A conclusion is usually reached through negotiations; or the parties may need the help of a mediator (a neutral third party who helps parties resolve disputes); or it could be decided at an arbitration (a less formal, private trial where an arbitrator, or a panel of them, rule on the issue). The use of mediation and or arbitration may be required to resolve the dispute by contract language. You might be unable to go to court even if you want to.
If Your Business is Involved in a Contract Breach Dispute, Consult Andrew Weisblatt
If you believe another party breached a contract or that you may have good reasons to breach one, the lawyers of Weisblatt Law Firm, LLC, can help. Weisblatt Law Firm routinely represents clients who are involved in contractual disputes and can help you with yours. If you face such a situation, contact a breach of contract attorney at (713) 666-1981 or through our online contact form today.
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
