All businesses have one thing in common — they all have business contracts for several purposes and with several different parties. When there are business contracts involved, there is a natural risk of a breach of contract. If your business is being sued for breach of contract, you must know how to proceed and defend yourself.
Attorneys use various defenses to fight for their clients against breach of contract claims. You want to be prepared with the best legal defense possible. If you are experiencing this situation for the first time, it is not a good idea to handle the case alone. Hire an experienced business attorney, and click here to read for more information.
There are defenses you can use in a breach of contract case.
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Statute of limitations.
The statute of limitations outlines a certain deadline that bars you from filing a claim after the time has passed. There are different time frames for filing a case for different types of cases. For instance, the statute of limitations in a lawsuit involving an automobile accident may be 2 years, whereas the deadline in a case involving premises responsibility would be 3 years.
Different states have different statute of limitations laws. Check your state’s laws and see whether the other party has run out of time to file a claim.
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Lack of capacity.
For a business contract to be legal, the parties signing the document must be mentally stable, of legal age, and in the right condition at the time of signing. If you lacked capacity while signing the contract, that is, you could not understand what you were doing, the document may be considered illegal.
For example, a lack of capacity defense can be used when a minor or a person with a mental disability signs the contract.
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Repudiation.
A repudiation defense can be used when one or the majority of parties indicate that they will not follow the contract. They may indicate this by their words or actions. You may have orally “canceled” the agreement because they said they were not going to follow through.
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Duress.
In this defense, the defendant argues that they had no choice but to sign the contract due to a wrongful act such as a threat. For example, the plaintiff might have threatened physical harm to the defendant’s family members if they did not sign the contract. The individual signing the contract must do it at their own will and not because they are pressured to do so.
