Business Lawyer Montana
As a business owner, you depend on your vendors to provide you with the materials, supplies and equipment their respective contracts call for them to provide – on time, as called for in the contract. When one of them fails to deliver something, especially something you’ve paid for in advance, you may have a serious problem on your hands and a breach of contract cause of action.
Initial Step
If you discover something missing from one of your orders, your first step should be to call the vendor and notify him or her of what’s missing. It may be that this was just an oversight on the vendor’s part and he or she will quickly “make it right” by scheduling a more or less immediate emergency delivery of the missing item(s). If so, it’s considered an immaterial breach of contract since you’ve probably lost little or nothing because of the late delivery and the problem is resolved.
Material Breach
If, on the other hand, your vendor tells you that he or she just discovered that they no longer have your missing item in stock and therefore can’t deliver it to you until they themselves receive it, this may well constitute a material breach of contract for which you can sue.
As its name implies, a material breach of contract is one in which one contract party, in this case you, receives significantly less than the contract calls for and consequently sustains an irreparable loss.
Say, for example, that you needed the missing item(s) because they were part of the huge weekend sale you advertised you were going to have. In this case, your vendor’s failure to deliver on time represents a material breach. Why? Several reasons, including the following:
- You lost the sales revenue you would have made on the missing item(s).
- You may have lost repeat business from heretofore good customers who walked out in disgust when you didn’t have what they came to buy.
- You lost good will for your business.
- You lost the amount you prepaid for the missing item, plus any premium you paid for on-time delivery.
Suing For Breach of Contract
Under these circumstances, your wisest strategy is to engage the services of an experienced local business lawyer who can file a breach of contract lawsuit against your vendor on your behalf. Be sure to give him or her a copy of the contract and any evidence you have regarding the types and amount of your damages.
You can expect to recover the amount of your damages and possibly even punitive damages if the court determines that your vendor’s breach was willful or malicious. Contact a business lawyer in Montana, like Silverman Law Office, PLLC for the sake of everyone involved with your business.