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Contract Law

Performance and breach

Now that you know about when there is an agreement, whether it is enforceable, and what its terms are, the next question is whether there has been a breach. If someone sues for breach of contract, one argument by the defendant might be that it was not obligated to perform, or, in other words, that its performance was excused.

This section addresses the doctrines that deal with this question, and it contains many lessons not just for those litigating breaches of contract but also for those who draft contracts. In these cases, think about how the contracts could have been drafted differently in order to avoid the problems that arose later.