When someone breaks an agreement and owes you money as a result, a breach of contract claim is the most direct way to recover it. Our firm brings these claims for businesses and individuals throughout New York and then enforces the resulting judgment. Call 212-233-1233 to discuss your contract.
What You Have to Prove
A breach of contract claim in New York has four elements: that a contract existed, that you performed your side of it, that the other party failed to perform theirs, and that you suffered damages as a result. The contract does not have to be a formal document. Emails, purchase orders, invoices, and even oral agreements can form an enforceable contract, although written terms are always easier to prove.
What You Can Recover
The basic measure of damages is the benefit of your bargain, the amount that puts you in the position you would have been in had the contract been performed. In a collection context this is usually the unpaid price of goods or services. On top of that, you can generally recover:
- Statutory interest, currently nine percent per year, running from the date of the breach
- The costs of suit
- Attorney's fees, where the contract contains a fee-shifting provision
- Consequential damages, where they were foreseeable and can be proven
Related Theories
Where a written contract is thin or missing, we often plead alternative theories alongside breach of contract, including account stated, goods sold and delivered, services rendered, and unjust enrichment. Pleading in the alternative gives the claim more than one path to a judgment.
From Claim to Cash
Winning a breach of contract case produces a judgment, not a payment. The judgment then has to be collected. We carry the matter all the way through, using information subpoenas to find assets and enforcement tools such as bank levies and restraining notices to seize them.
Statute of Limitations
In New York the statute of limitations on a breach of contract claim is generally six years. For the sale of goods under the Uniform Commercial Code it is four years. If your claim is approaching either deadline, it is important to act promptly so the right to sue is not lost.
To discuss collecting on a broken contract, call 212-233-1233 or email [email protected].
