Contract disputes
Court is slow, expensive, draining, and does not always give you the outcome you wanted. Almost every contract dispute is better resolved before it gets there.
Dealing with contract disputes
Our contract dispute service provides an appropriately qualified lawyer to undertake dispute negotiations on your behalf. That removes you from a negotiation where your direct attachment to the contract may hinder a mutually acceptable outcome.
Most parties want to avoid court. The experience is time-consuming, expensive, emotionally draining, and does not always deliver the outcome you wanted. Instead we step in on your behalf and work pragmatically and realistically to resolve the dispute and avoid litigation.
Breach of contract
Where the other side has not done what they agreed to do, we establish what the contract actually obliged them to do, what the breach has cost you, and what remedy is realistically available. That covers:
- Assessing whether the breach is repudiatory, and what that entitles you to do
- Quantifying the loss and damage you have actually suffered
- Letters before claim and pre-action protocol correspondence
- Specific performance, where damages would not put you back in position
- Defending a claim where the allegation of breach is against you
Termination and suspension
Ending a contract badly can turn a manageable problem into a claim against you. We review the express termination grounds in the agreement, advise on the common law rights that sit alongside them, and set out the sequence to follow so that your exit is clean.
Alternative dispute resolution
Before litigation, there is a great deal of room to settle. We use the full range of ADR: without-prejudice settlement discussions, mediation and arbitration, and structured settlement offers where the costs consequences push the other side towards agreement.
How dispute work is costed
Our costings are based on pre-meeting briefing, attendance and advice at the meeting, and a report of the meeting. They exclude travel, disbursements and any contract drafting.
How long do I have to bring a breach of contract claim?
Limitation periods for contract claims are strict, and they start running earlier than most people expect. If you think you may have a claim, take advice early rather than waiting to see whether the relationship recovers.
Can I just stop performing if they breach first?
Sometimes, but it is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes. Whether you are entitled to stop depends on whether the breach was repudiatory and on what the agreement says. Getting it wrong turns you into the party in breach.
Will this end up in court?
Usually not. The great majority of contract disputes settle, and our service is built around reaching that settlement as early and as cheaply as possible.
What if the contract was never signed?
An unsigned or purely verbal contract can still be binding, and conduct between the parties often establishes the terms. It makes proving them harder, not impossible.