Are You Involved in a California Business Contract Dispute?
Our experienced Orange County contract litigation lawyers help resolve high-stakes company contract disputes with quick, economical, skilled legal strategies.
Contracts are the substance behind every successful California business, bringing certainty to dealings between individuals and companies. Yet - despite often careful and meticulous contract drafting - breach of contract claims are one of the most common disputes we see across all industries.
Whether the problem arises from performance delays, a violation of contract terms, or the misinterpretation of responsibilities and obligations, contract breaches and breach of contract allegations can damage a company’s financial status, business relationships, and reputation if not tackled with prompt and knowledgeable legal strategy.
Our experienced Orange County breach of contract attorneys are recognized for successfully representing California’s leading businesses in contract disputes across a variety of industries, including finance, commercial and industrial real estate, IT, telecommunications, manufacturing, media, entertainment, transportation, cannabis, healthcare, and construction.
With decades of combined legal experience resolving complex, multimillion-dollar contract claims, our Newport Beach-based contract dispute litigation attorneys help Southern California companies and their management:
- Navigate the nuances of industry-specific contract legalities
- Protect vital business interests in a cost-effective manner
- Negotiate resolutions to avoid unnecessary litigation
- Recover damages lost to contract breach or breach of contract allegations
- Litigate complex contract dispute claims in federal, state, and appellate courts
If your California business has suffered a breach of contract or has been accused of breaching a contract, our Hochfelsen & Kani, LLP contract dispute litigation attorneys are ready to aggressively defend your rights and interests. Contact us for a free, confidential case consultation.
Most Common Types of California Contract Disputes
Our Orange County business contract attorneys handle a wide variety of high-stakes contract disputes involving California startups, established businesses, buyers, sellers, commercial real estate owners, banks, brokerage firms, insurance firms, partnerships, shareholders, pharmaceutical companies, and others.
Some of the contract dispute cases we handle involve:
- Commercial papers, notes, bonds, debentures
- Commercial real estate contracts
- Consequential damages waivers
- Consideration disputes
- Contract unenforceability
- Defense contracts
- Delivery timeliness
- Employment contracts
- Franchising disputes
- Geographic restrictions
- Government contracts
- Healthcare contracts
- Implied agreements
- Indemnification provisions
- Intellectual property contracts
- International contract disputes
- Investment contract claims
- ISDA master agreement disputes
- Land use contracts
- Licensing and qualification disputes
- Limitations of liability
- Liquidated damages clauses
- Material breaches
- Merchant disputes
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Joint development disputes
- Claims seeking contract termination
- Consumer Fraud Act claims
- Bad faith claims
- Unlawful termination of distributorship
- Procurement contract disputes
- Breach of continuing guaranty
- Misrepresentations
- No damages for delay clauses
- Non-compete clauses
- Non-solicitation agreements
- Notice requirements
- Partial contract breaches
- Partnership contracts
- Pay when paid agreements
- Quality of goods and services
- Revenue provisions
- Right of first refusal (ROFR) claims
- Shareholder contracts
- Significant performance conflicts
- Trading contracts
- Unclear, ambiguous contract language
At the law firm of Hochfelsen & Kani LLP, our Orange County contract litigation attorneys are prepared to aggressively protect your rights and interests in mediation, arbitration, or courtroom litigation. To find out how we can help, contact our California contract dispute litigation team today.
What Options Are Available for Resolving Contract Disputes in California?
Numerous options are available to resolve contract disputes, from informal negotiations to courtroom litigation. We treat each case with our client’s most important objectives at the forefront. Early case evaluation and thorough analysis of the agreements helps determine the most beneficial route for our clients.
We realize that going to court is not always the fastest, most cost-effective way to protect our client’s rights. Our experienced contract lawyers can often resolve even the most complex contract disputes promptly and cost-effectively via negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.
However, when circumstances require resolution through trial, our Southern California contract litigation attorneys are prepared to maximize your outcome with detailed investigation, strategic case preparation, and aggressive representation. Our Los Angeles and Orange County business attorneys have experience appearing before all California sited courts including all Superior Courts, the California Supreme Court, California Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Courts.
How Do California Businesses Recover from A Breach of Contract?
Whether we are representing a client in negotiations, mediation, arbitration, or litigation, our Southern California breach of contract attorneys always pursue the maximum outcome – considering all potential damages and equitable remedies.
Parties who suffer losses due to a contract breach can claim various types of damages:
- General damages: Direct monetary losses resulting from breach of contract. Say a materials supplier promises to deliver shingles at a set price, but the market price subsequently rises 20%. Rather than deliver the shingles at a loss, the supplier chooses to breach the contract and charge more. The buyer could then claim the 20% difference in general damages.
- Expectation damages: The difference between the profit a party expected to make on a contract and the actual profit due to the breach. Expectation damages restore the innocent party’s benefit of the bargain.
- Incidental damages: Also known as collateral damages, incidental damages are the indirect but foreseeable losses an innocent party incurs when the breaching party fails to perform.
- Liquidated damages: Written into some contracts is a term for damages to be paid if a party fails to perform in the manner specified by a certain date. A court will uphold liquidated damages as long as they are fair and do not constitute a penalty.
- Nominal damages: When a breach occurs, but the non-breaching party suffers no real monetary losses, a court can award nominal damages, a small sum that serves as the token amount of compensation.
- Punitive damages: Rarely awarded in contract disputes, unless there is evidence of fraud or tortious behavior, these damages serve to punish the breaching party for egregious conduct.
- Attorneys’ fees: Many contracts include a clause stating that one or both parties can recover attorneys’ fees if her or she prevails in a dispute. Under California law, either party may recover attorneys’ fees if he or she prevails, as long as the contract states that one party can recover fees.
In addition to, or in lieu of monetary damages, a court may order injunctive relief, also known as an equitable remedy. In doing so, the court orders one or both of the parties to take some type of action or to refrain from acting. Equitable remedies can include:
- Specific performance: The court orders the breaching party to fulfill the contract obligations.
- Rescission and restitution: The court voids the contract so that no further performance is necessary. The partially-performing party can then collect the reasonable value of the work supplied by the other party.
- Reformation: In cases where there is a misunderstanding of terms or the contract language does not accurately convey the parties’ agreement, the court can order the contract to be rewritten in more precise language to capture the true intent.
The earlier you contact us, the easier it may be to reach a swift resolution. Often, if a client contacts us when a breach first occurs or when they suspect a breach is imminent, we can resolve the issue through a phone call, a demand letter, or negotiations with the other party’s attorneys.
Our experienced California breach of contract attorneys at Hochfelsen & Kani LLP represent clients across all industries. Call today for a free, no obligation case consultation.
How Our Orange County Breach of Contract Lawyers Help Maximize Your Outcome
Over 50 years of combined legal experience and successful contract dispute solutions for many of California’s largest corporations gives the law firm of Hochfelsen & Kani LLP an unmatched portfolio of achievements in contract litigation.
California executives, industry professionals, businesses and their management and owners retain our law firm for some of the most complex corporate contract disputes in the U.S. Our experienced California contract litigation attorneys are recognized for:
- Skilled, unique negotiation tactics in contract dispute resolution
- Comprehensive grasp of industry-specific legalities in contractual dealings
- Expert investigative resources to build strategic legal support for your case
- Aggressive, proactive legal representation by highly skilled trial lawyers
- Exceptional California business and commercial litigation advocacy
Our experienced Orange County based breach of contract attorneys are dedicated to protecting your rights, minimizing your losses, maximizing recoveries, and delivering an outcome that advances your company’s best interests.
If you are involved in a contract dispute in California, Hochfelsen & Kani, LLP, is in a strong position to help. Located in Newport Beach, California, we represent clients in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, San Diego and Riverside Counties, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Jose, Silicon Valley, and across the State of California. Contact us at 714-907-0697 for a free, no-obligation case consultation.