Breach and remedies

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When preparing or advising upon contract documentation, the commercial lawyer will necessarily consider the impact that a breach, or a potential breach, of the contract might bring. One of the central issues will be to consider what remedies are available to the innocent party in the event of a breach.

This subtopic considers the following areas:

  1. •

    breach of contract

  2. •

    contractual damages

  3. •

    limitations to recovery—causation, remoteness, excluding and mitigating the loss

  4. •

    equitable remedies in breach of contract claims

  5. •

    claiming statutory interest for the late payment of commercial debts

  6. •

    dispute resolution clauses in a contract

This sub-topic focuses on dispute resolution in the context of business-to-business (B2B) transactions. For information on consumer disputes, see: Consumer remedies and enforcement—overview.

Breach of contract

A breach of contract occurs where one or more of the obligations under that contract are not performed precisely as described in the contract by the party who otherwise promised to perform those obligations in accordance with its terms.

Disputes concerning whether a breach of contract has arisen or not are inevitable. No matter the level of care and

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