Members of North Carolina’s business community are most likely aware that a contract is a legally binding agreement between at least two parties. Each party agrees to provide some sort of consideration to the other. When one party believes the other has failed to adhere to the terms of the contract, that party is considered to be in breach of contract. At that point, the allegedly harmed party may file a lawsuit for monetary and/or non-monetary damages.
For example, an engineering company entered into a contract with a city to perform renovations of the city’s park system. Toward the end of the contract, the city withheld the last payment to the company. The company filed a lawsuit that originally sought damages in the amount of $200,000. The city claimed it withheld payment due to alleged delays and discrepancies in portions of the specifications and plans for the renovations.
Recently, however, the South Carolina city and Beaufort Engineering Services, Inc. agreed to settle the case for a total of $75,500. Portions of this amount include the payments that the city failed to make. Another $23,450 in damages was proposed to be paid to the company, and the city council recently approved the payment.
As was the case here, not every breach of contract suit between North Carolina businesses has to go to court. Negotiating a settlement could ultimately save the parties any further losses of time and money litigating the dispute. Once the terms of a settlement are negotiated and approved, they can be cemented in an agreement that will be presented to the court for final approval, and the case can then be dismissed.
Source: colletontoday.com, “City settles breach-of-contract lawsuit for $75K“, George Salsberry, Dec. 10, 2014