Breach of Contract
Breach of Contract
A construction contract is a rulebook that keeps projects, working relationships, and expectations successful. When there is a breach of contract it means that one of the parties did not uphold their portion of the contract, meaning they broke the rules. When rules are broken in construction it can significantly harm the contractor’s business, including not receiving payments, delaying projects, damaging partnerships, impairing reputation, and more. A contract should safeguard the contractor, so when it is not followed, we make sure that the contractor remains protected.
We are your breach of contract attorney that focuses on the best solutions for the contractor’s business using both our legal and business remedies. We are transparent about your options so you can make an informed decision based on realistic outcomes. No matter the type of breach of contract or the route you want to take, ready to help you get everything you’re entitled to.
ENFORCING THE RULES OF THE GAME
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Partnership disputes
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Constructor-subcontractor contract disputes
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Breach of employee contracts
PROCESS
What is our process?
First, we have to determine if we are the ones suing or if we are the ones being sued. If we are on the offense, we spend more time on steps 2 and 3 to resolve the dispute or draft a plan. If we are on the defense, our time is limited and instead strategize accordingly.
Step One: Suing or being sued?
After telling us more about the dispute, we dig deep into the provided documents and the law for extensive research. From there, we come up with our strategy for moving forward and either initiate or respond to the lawsuit. We also gather additional information or data for the case.
Step Three: The planning, research, and drafting
Pre-trial preparation involves not only preparing our argument for trial but organizing all of our court documents, providing our witnesses with notice, drafting our jury instructions and verdict form, and many other final details to prepare for a favorable trial.
Step Seven: The pre-trial
During the discovery process, we also enter into motion practice. Motion practice is where the attorneys are asking the court to do something, such as dismissing the case, asking the other side to produce a document or answer a question, or excluding a witness or document from the case.
Step Five: The motion practice
We take the best action that will benefit your business, or what MNCLS calls the “business solution.” We try to find a way to avoid a lawsuit (if we’re on offense) or end it quickly (if we’re on defense) by working with the other party to find a resolution. If a resolution is not possible, we move to step 3.
Step Two: The pre-suit dispute resolution
After the lawsuit has begun, we start the process of finding out what the other side knows and the documents they have through written and in-person discoveries. The purpose of the discovery process is to gauge the opponent’s offense or defense to ensure we are properly prepared.
Step Four: The discovery
The court almost always requires an alternative dispute resolution. At MNCLS, we always participate in mediation unless arbitration is required by the court or the contract. Mediation is similar to our pre-suit dispute resolution, but it is done in front of a neutral party to establish a resolution without the use of litigation.
Step Six: The mediation
A trial can range from one day to several weeks. Most cases that we have are between 1-5 day trials. The number of days at trial depends on the dispute, whether we were able to narrow issues down through our motion practice and the number of documents and witnesses.
Step Eight: The trial
Common Issues
A breach of contract can be a result of various factors and from different parties. Since contractors are a fundamental part of construction, the rules outlined in the contract must be upheld so each party delivers and receives what they agreed to. For contractors, if a contract is broken or disputed it can significantly inhibit their performance, project, or business. We understand the importance of contracts for our clients, so not only do we fight to enforce them, we provide proactive measures. We help contractors build contracts that will protect them and their business.
BREACH OF CONTRACT
It is dependent on the dollar amount in controversy. We will help you clearly understand how much the process will cost in comparison to how much you could receive.
Typically the contract will disclose who is responsible for the attorney’s fees. At MNCLS, we ensure attorney fees are addressed in the contracts we build so that the liable party pays the attorney’s fees.