What are the remedies for a contract breach?

On Behalf of | Nov 17, 2020 | Contract Disputes |

Ohio business owners like you often have to deal with contracts. It is a part of managing a business and normally, you do not have to deal with many negative scenarios. But there are still some cases in which you may run into a contract dispute.

In these instances, what can you do? There are three potential remedies when it comes to handling a breach in contract.

Three remedies for a contract breach

The Judicial Education Center discusses remedies for breaches of contract. What is a remedy? It is also known as a relief. When one party breaches a contract, the other has entitlement to this relief. Primary remedies are damages, specific performance and cancellation and restitution.

The most common method of resolution

In terms of which is most common, you would look at damages. Damages are a form of payment used to compensate the party owed a remedy. There are many types of damages. Compensatory damages put the non-breaching party back into the position they were in before the breach. Punitive damages cover that and a little extra. They punish the breaching party, but you rarely see this awarded in business disputes. Other forms of damages include nominal and liquidated.

You can turn to specific performance if damages are not enough. This is a court-ordered performance of duty under your contract. In other words, the breaching party must succeed in upholding their end of the contract.

Finally, there is cancellation and restitution. You can cancel the contract and sue for restitution. Cancelling the contract voids all parties of their obligations. Restitution puts you back in the position you were at before the breach of contract.

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