Professionals who manage business operations often rely on contracts for multiple purposes. Contracts help them obtain work from employees or independent contractors. They lock in pricing and delivery dates with vendors. They help protect the company from the disclosure of trade secrets or the sudden loss of commercial premises.
Contracts can make business predictable and can help organizations control operational costs. Unfortunately, not every party to a contract fulfills their obligations the way that they should. Sometimes, a professional or a business breaches a contract in a significant manner. The other party to the contract may then need to take legal action. In some cases, plaintiffs filing a breach of contract lawsuit specifically ask the judge to issue an order of specific performance.
What is specific performance?
Specific performance is one of the most effective contract remedies available in the civil courts. When people talk about a judge enforcing an existing contract, that is typically a scenario that produced an order of specific performance. The judge issues a court order requiring that the party in breach perform certain actions. They may need to deliver materials, complete unfinished work or redo substandard work on a completed project. Specific performance can be beneficial when a company has already paid for goods and services or cannot readily find another vendor or contractor on short notice.
Specific performance isn’t always ideal
While there are many scenarios in which specific performance can lead to the best outcome for a contract dispute, there are others where it isn’t necessarily the best option. Professionals and other businesses might engage in malicious compliance when there’s bad blood between the parties that signed the contract.
Malicious compliance involves adhering to the letter of the court order without necessarily upholding the spirit of the order. Simply put, the outcome may not be up to the plaintiff’s expectations or requirements.
In cases where there is concern that the defendant responding to a breach of contract lawsuit may misbehave, seeking other solutions might be a safer option. Judges have the authority to terminate contracts. They can enforce penalty clauses within contracts to award fees to the plaintiff. They can also order the defendant to pay damages when the breach of contract has caused provable economic losses.
Exploring every option for a breach of contract dispute with the assistance of a skilled legal team can help organizational leadership pursue the best solution available. Specific performance is one of several solutions that can potentially mitigate the impact of a contract breach.