The Basics of Breach of Contract
In order to prove a breach of contract in Florida, there must be a legally enforceable contract (agreement between two or more parties) and, the contract has to be breached (one party fails to perform according to the terms of the contract). A breach of contract occurs when a party unjustifiably fails to perform his/her/its obligations under the contract . In Florida, the legal definition of a breach of contract is: When a breach of contract occurs, there are four (4) elements that must be proven in court for the other party to prevail in a Breach of Contract lawsuit. More specifically, those four key (4) elements are:
When You Have to Bring a Breach of Contract Complaint
You may file a breach of contract complaint if you suffer damages from someone else’s failure to perform a contractual obligation. To succeed with a breach of contract claim, you need to show that you and the other party were not able to uphold the contract due to the other person’s inability to perform their duties and subsequently sustained damage as a result. For example, if you and your neighbor sign an agreement for the installation of a fence on your property line with your neighbor, and the neighbor is not able to pay you the full amount for the installation of the fence, resulting in you footing part of the bill out of your own pocket, then you may have sustained damages. Therefore, you may proceed to file a breach of contract complaint against the neighbor for the remaining balance owed. Before you file a complaint, however, you should: Consider whether you and the other party were unable to uphold their parts of the contract. That is, did you cause the other party to be unable to perform on the contract? If so, you may not have enough evidence to file a breach of contract complaint in court. Make sure you have proper documentation of the formed contract. A breach of contract exists only when both parties agree to something, and backed it up in writing. Look to see whether any proper remedies exist outside of court. Sometimes certain agreements indicate how to solve any issues that arise without resorting to litigation or court action. An experienced attorney may assist you with determining whether you are eligible to file a breach of contract complaint in your county.
How to Prepare Your Breach of Contract Complaint
The essential components of a complaint alleging breach of contract include (1) a short styled heading, (2) information about the court’s subject matter and personal jurisdiction, (3) identification of the parties, (4) a statement of the operative facts, and (5) specific allegations. As to (1), below is a sample heading:
IN THE DISTRICT COURT
IN AND FOR BROWN COUNTY, TEXAS
___th JUDICIAL DISTRICT
KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN, §
PLAINTIFF, §
VS. § CAUSE NO.___ ___
AMERICAN ITALIAN PASTA COMPANY, §
DEFENDANT §
As to (2), the court will exercise personal jurisdiction over American Italian Pasta Company because it is (a) a domestic corporation, and (b) has purposefully established minimum contacts with the State of Texas. The court has subject matter jurisdiction under Section 47 U.S.C. A. § 27 because the amount in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $1,000 and this action arises under the laws and constitution of the State of Texas arising from a breach of a binding contractual promise.
With regard to (3), both the plaintiff and the defendant are citizens of the United States, and have their principal places of business in the State of Texas.
As to (4), on or about October 1, 1996, the parties entered into an agreement whereby the plaintiff would provide chicken products to the defendant at discount prices. The agreement was sealed by each party’s acknowledged signature according to Texas law. The defendant knew that the plaintiff was in the State of Texas during their dealings, and that the plaintiff relies upon revenues from sales of chicken products. The defendant breached the parties’ contract in that it failed to pay plaintiff for each product that the defendant received, and it continues to withhold payment to the plaintiff. The defendant continues to collect revenues from the sale of the chicken products, which it is not paying to the plaintiff.
Based upon these facts, the plaintiff specifically alleges that (1) by entering into a contract with the plaintiff, the defendant expressly agreed to the relationship as alleged in plaintiff’s petition; (2) the defendant is obligated to perform within the State of Texas and make payments for the chicken products sold to the plaintiff; (3) it further knew that Texas law would apply to the agreement between the parties; (4) the defendant has failed and refused to pay for the chicken products that it has received from the plaintiff; (5) it is continuing to sell the chicken products without paying the plaintiff; (6) by reason of the defendant’s breach of the agreement, the plaintiff must employ legal counsel to assist in collection of the amounts owing from the defendant, and must pay its lawyers a reasonable fee for their services in this action; and (7) the plaintiff is entitled to judgment against the defendant for the total amount sought here in accordance with section _____(a) of the Texas Business and Commerce Code.
Sample of a Breach of Contract Complaint
A Complaint for Breach of Contract must comply with certain formatting rules of court. By following these formatting rules, the person drafting the complaint makes it easier for the judge to read the complaint and ultimately easier to resolve the issue on the merits, if it gets past the pleading stage.
When formatting a contract breach of contract complaint, the plaintiff would normally do the following:
The plaintiff would then line space down and write "Plaintiff will prove, through the presentation of evidence, the following facts," and then would make the following allegations, numbering each of the paragraphs consecutively (this numbering is separate and apart from the paragraph numbering of the preceding separate statement of venue):
- At all times mentioned herein, Plaintiff, ABC Company (hereinafter "ABC"), was a Corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of California, with its principal place of business in Sacramento County, California.
- At all times mentioned herein, Defendant, EFG, was an individual residing in Sacramento County, California.
- This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this Complaint and the causes of action contained herein as it involves a dispute over $25,000.00 plus an award of punitive damages which brings it under the monetary limit of the Court.
- Venue properly lies in this Court because the Plaintiff, ABC, resides in Sacramento County, California, the Defendant EFG resides in Sacramento County, California, and the subject contract was to be performed in Sacramento County, California.
- Within the last two years, Plaintiff, ABC, and Defendant, EFG, entered an oral agreement (hereinafter "the Contract") for EFG to produce widgets for ABC and for ABC to pay EFG a total of $50,000.00 for the widgets.
- Most recently, on or about October 5, 2001, ABC paid Defendant $15,000.00 as partial consideration for performance of the Contract.
- Although ABC has paid $15,000.00 to Defendant, ABC has not received product under the Contract, despite repeated requests.
- Plaintiff, ABC, has performed all of its obligations under the Contract; however, Defendant EFG refused to provide Plaintiff with the data he previously agreed to provide without additional payment.
- ABC has been damaged by the breach of the Contract by the Defendant in the amount of $35,000.00.
- Despite repeated written and verbal demand by Plaintiff of Defendant EFG, EFG has refused to provide Plaintiff with the data needed to manufacture the widgets he verbally agreed to transfer to Plaintiff under the Contract.
Avoiding the Common Pitfalls
One of the most common mistakes made when drafting a breach of contract complaint is simply being too vague about what the parties agreed to. Although arguably every element of a breach of contract claim must be covered in the complaint, it is especially important to do so with regard to the terms of the agreement. If all of the facts are there to show that the parties had an agreement, then the documents themselves will likely be produced during the discovery phase of the lawsuit anyway. As a result, this issue often times isn’t dispositive to whether a breach of contract claim will be successful.
There is another problem, however , that is more critical to a breach of contract claim. The plaintiff must allege compliance with the contract terms on its part. A plaintiff must be prepared to show any documents that arose as a result of this compliance to properly support their claim. A common pitfall that many plaintiff’s fall into is to include an allegation about substantial performance instead of full performance. If they cannot prove that this substantial performance did in fact occur, then the plaintiff may suffer a serious setback to her case. It is typically better practice to allege full performance, the defendant’s breach in failing to perform, and the damages suffered as a result.
The Process of Filing and Serving the Complaint
After you’ve completed your breach of contract complaint and filed it, you have to serve the complaint on the defendant otherwise your case will be thrown out of court.
In Florida the rules regarding serving a complaint can be found in Florida’s rules of civil procedure, specifically those found in Rule 1.080 of Florida’s Rules of Civil Procedure and Chapter 48 – Process in Florida’s Statutes. It is very important that you properly serve your complaint because the defendant can move to dismiss your complaint if you do not do it correctly. This is why you should not mess around with the aspect of service. I usually recommend hiring a process server to handle the service of process rather than trying to serve the defendant yourself because it’s a complicated process. For example, you cannot serve your own complaint on the defendant. Florida case law has stated that if you attempt to serve your own complaint, you can lose your entire lawsuit. Additionally, the deadlines regarding service of process can become a problem for a lot of pro se litigants who believe that filing the complaint is all they have to do. There are strict deadlines in which you need to serve the complaint and those deadlines are based on what type of service you’re pursuing and the type of defendant you’ve named in the complaint. The plaintiff must read the rules regarding service of process before they begin any type of litigation because it can sink your entire case, even if the allegations of the complaint are true.
When to Get Help from an Attorney
Consulting with a qualified lawyer can be your most important step when filing a Chicago breach of contract complaint. A lawyer can adjudicate all of the legalese and represent you in any litigation or negotiation you may require. A lawyer can also help streamline the contractual process from the drafting of new contracts to litigating breaches of contract in court. Request a free case evaluation to find out whether or not you have a viable case.