South Florida Arbitration & Litigation Lawyer Blog
Making a Contract, Performing a Contract, Breaching a Contract – South Florida Breach of Contract and Business Litigation Attorney:
A contract is a general, agreement by which rights or acts are exchanged for lawful consideration. To be valid, the contract must be entered into by competent parties, must cover a legal and moral transaction, must possess mutuality of obligation, and must represent a meeting of minds as to all material issues dealt with in the contract. Contracts can be written, oral or a combination of both written and oral agreements. Moreover, contracts can result from a series of communications that take place over a period of time. It goes without saying that countless transactions in our personal lives, finance and investments are covered by some type of contract.
A breach of contract action is one of the most common causes of action that forms the basis of lawsuits filed in this country. Depending on the circumstances, the action may be filed in state or federal court. However, if the contract between the parties contains an arbitration clause, the claim will be heard in that forum. Whether or not to include an arbitration agreement in a contract is a decision that is usually made at the time the contract terms are negotiated. This is not an issue that should be taken lightly because there are material pros and cons to such a decision.
A contract (oral or written) can arise under any number of circumstances. A breach of contract could include a party failing to perform any term of a contract, written or oral, without a legitimate legal excuse, not completing a job on time or at all, not paying in full or on time, failure to deliver all the goods agreed upon, substituting inferior or significantly different goods, not providing a bond when required, being late without excuse, or any act which shows the party will not complete the work or deliver the goods as agreed (“anticipatory breach”).
In the case of a breach of contract, the most common remedies sought are monetary damages or specific performance of the terms of the agreement.
Please keep in mind that this post is being provided for educational purposes only. It is not designed to be complete in all material respects. Thus, it should not be relied upon as legal or investment advice. If the reader has any questions concerning the contents of this post or other questions concerning the making, performance or breach of a contract (oral or written), you should contact a qualified professional.
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At the Fort Lauderdale Law Office of Russell L. Forkey, we represent clients throughout South and Central Florida, including Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Sunrise, Plantation, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Delray, Boynton Beach, Hollywood, Lake Worth, Royal Palm Beach, Manalapan, Jupiter, Gulf Stream, Wellington, Fort Pierce, Stuart, Palm City, Jupiter, Miami, Orlando, Maitland, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, Heathrow, Melbourne, Palm Bay, Cocoa Beach, Vero Beach, Daytona Beach, Deland, New Smyrna Beach, Ormand Beach, Broward County, Palm Beach County, Dade County, Orange County, Seminole County, Martin County, Brevard County, Indian River County, Volusia County and Monroe County, Florida. The law office of Russell L. Forkey also represents South American, Canadian and other foreign residents that do business with U.S. financial institutions, investment advisors, brokerage and precious metal firms.