It happens quite often, a party breaches its obligations under a written or oral agreement. Most of the time a non-breaching party doesn’t understand its rights and remedies under this common situation. The severity of the breach will dictate the course of action that a non-breaching party will take; for instance, if the breach is immaterial then a non-breaching party will usually not seek any sort of redress from the breaching party, especially if the breaching party continues to make monetary payment under the agreement. Under New York law, when a contract is breached, the non-breaching party is usually entitled to damages to provide it fair and just compensation commensurate with its loss. Damages for breach of contract may take any of following forms: (i) expectancy damages; (ii) reliance damages; or (iii) restitution damage. Expectancy damages seek to put the non-breaching party in the position that it would have been in had the contract been fully performed. Reliance damages allows the non-breaching party to recover certain identifiable out-of-pocket costs incurred in reliance on the breaching party’s promise, which the breaching party could reasonably foresee. Restitution damages enable the injured party to recover the value of any benefit it conferred upon the breaching party. There are other damages a non-breaching may be entitled to as well. For instance, special damages are damages which seek to compensate the non-breaching party for additional losses that arise from special circumstances, such as lost profits. If you have a legal matter requiring experienced counsel, practical solutions, and personal attention, contact Bashian & Papantoniou, P.C.
