When you work with other people or businesses, you always take steps to make sure you have a solid contract. You want to be sure that if the other party makes a mistake or serious error that you’re able to end the contract and work with others who can actually get the job done.
A breach of contract or dispute over an aspect of your contract is serious and may impact your business. That’s why it’s so important to understand the different parts of your contract and to take action if the contract has been breached.
How can you resolve a contract dispute?
The good news is that there are several ways to resolve contract disputes. You have a few options such as:
- Trying mediation to work out the dispute and determine if you’d like to move forward with the contract
- Arbitration, which may be required if you have an arbitration clause in your contract
- Talking it out. Collaborative law allows you to commit to not litigating in exchange for working toward a resolution outside court with your attorneys
- Litigating
To save time and money, it generally benefits people to work through mediation or arbitration. Collaborative law can also be helpful if you wish to maintain the business relationship.
Litigation is often a better option for those who want to end the contractual relationship or who have losses that they’d like to recover that the other party will not repay outside of a court order.
Should you jump to one of these options if the other party breaches a contract with you?
Not necessarily. If you have a good business relationship, it may be helpful for you to talk with the other party and to discuss if there is an easy way to resolve the issue. For example, they may offer to pay you your losses for failing to make a delivery on time, and you may ask that you make changes to the arrangement to guarantee delivery on time in the future. If this kind of discussion doesn’t help, then you may want to try a more formal dispute resolution option.