Seriously? OMG! WTF?

When you make a deal with someone and hold up your end of the agreement, it’s only fair to expect the other person to do the same. But sometimes people ghost on payments, miss deadlines, and refuse to deliver. When someone breaks a contract that has serious consequences for your business or personal finances, you have legal options. 

1. Understand what counts as a breach of contract

You can sue for breach of contract, provided your situation meets the legal requirements. There are different types of breaches:

•     Material breach. This affects the heart of the contract, like failing to deliver a product or service.

•     Minor breach. The agreement isn’t completely destroyed, but you might still be entitled to damages.

In addition to a break in the agreement, it’s important to review the contract terms to see if there are termination clauses, notice requirements, or dispute resolution procedures. These clauses dictate what your next steps are, and in some cases, may require dispute resolution outside of a courtroom.

Another condition that must be met is that certain events might need to occur before a party’s duty goes into effect. If those events didn’t happen, the breach may not be enforceable. 

Since contract law is complex, don’t pursue justice alone. For the best possible outcome, consult an experienced civil litigation attorney who knows the law inside and out.

2. Gather evidence fast

Evidence can disappear if you wait too long, so start collecting it now. Get a hard copy of the final signed agreement, not just a draft or summary. Whether it was signed with ink or digitally, it holds equal weight.  

Save and print every communication, including emails, texts, voicemails, and invoices. These can help prove what was promised, when it was due, and what was delivered (or not).

Next, record the impact of the broken agreement. Did you lose money? Miss deadlines? Lose a client? Document everything. Damages are harder to win without receipts, logs, and financial records.

3. Attempt to solve it informally

After you’ve gathered all the evidence possible, reach out to the other party and try to solve the issue directly. Lawsuits are time-consuming and costly, so if you can resolve the dispute without involving the courts, it’s worth it.

Send the other party a demand letter outlining the breach, damages you incurred, and what you want. Give the other party a chance to fix the situation before taking further action. If the dispute stems from a misunderstanding or unforeseen issues, having an open conversation might lead to a fast resolution.

If your informal attempts at resolution fail, documenting your good faith efforts can help you if you pursue the matter legally.  

4. Consider mediation or arbitration

Even if it’s not required by your contract terms, consider mediation or arbitration to solve your dispute. Mediation is where a neutral third-party comes in to help negotiate a resolution. It’s not legally binding, but it can lead to a constructive settlement. Arbitration is a more formal process and is legally binding. It’s basically a court process outside of the courtroom. 

If arbitration is required per your contract, you’ll need to follow that directive. Courts typically uphold these clauses and failure to comply can get your case dismissed or not heard at all. 

5. Know what damages you can claim

To win compensation, you need to prove actual damages/losses related to what you would have received if the contract was honored. This can include lost wages and other income, costs incurred, and replacement services. You also might be eligible for consequential damages like lost future profits and reputational harm.

Unlike other types of lawsuits, you won’t get punitive or emotional damages over breach of contract. A contract attorney is the person best qualified to assess your potential for recovering damages.

6. Hire a contract attorney

If you’re ready to escalate the situation, you need a lawyer. But not every lawyer will be able to take a breach of contract case. You need a lawyer with extensive experience in civil litigation and contract law. An attorney will tell you if you’re better off settling, sending a cease-and-desist letter, filing in small claims, or pursuing a case in civil court. 

If you have a good case, they may take your case on a contingency, so you won’t pay until or unless you win. However, every attorney is different, so ask about fees during your consultation.

Enforce the deal

 Contracts only work when both sides know they’ll be held accountable. If someone broke a contractual agreement, don’t assume you just have to eat the losses. You have legal rights. Don’t take the hit. Push back legally.

Spencer Elden has been famous for almost all of his life, and now he is seeking compensation for it. You might not know his name or his face now, but you have known him since he was a baby. That is because we saw all of him on the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind album.

Even though he has talked positively about it and recreated the photograph, he is now changing his tune.

His lawyers filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles claiming that the defendants involved “knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography,” that they “failed to take reasonable steps to protect Spencer and prevent his widespread sexual exploitation,” that they’ve continued “to benefit from their participation in Spencer’s commercial sexual exploitation,” and that Spencer “has suffered and will continue to suffer lifelong damages.”

According to Rolling Stone, the defendants are surviving band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, the three people who oversee Kurt Cobain’s estate (Courtney Love, Guy Oseary, and Heather Parry), photographer Kirk Weddle, art director Robert Fisher, and various record companies and distributors. In addition, the band’s former drummer Chad Channing is also being sued, even though he was not involved with the album.

How much compensation does Elden want? He wants court fees plus $150,000 per defendant.

I think he would have a better case if he didn’t so many positive interviews about it throughout the years.

The people behind UB40’s Kingston Town are suing Paris Hilton’s record label saying her song Stars are Blind sounds a lot like their’s. They have brought a £250,000 lawsuit ito the High Court in London, claiming breach of copyright over the song according to Daily Mail. What took them so long to realize that the songs sounded alike? I never really noticed it until I listened to both songs together, but then again I am not of fan of UB40. I prefer Paris’s song! Below are the songs what do you think?

Carol Burnett is suing Family Guy for $2 million for using her image and name without her permission according to Reuters. Burnett says the show committed copyright infringement by using her cartoon likeness from her variety show, The Carol Burnett Show. Burnett says she has exclusive rights to her name and image and the show did ask her to use either. She asked the show to edit her out of the scene and they have declined which is probably why she went ahead with the lawsuit?

A spokesman for 20th Century Fox Television, which produces “Family Guy,” said on Friday the suit was without merit and that references to Burnett and her show in an 18-second sequence of the cartoon amounted to parody. “‘Family Guy,’ like the ‘Carol Burnett Show,’ is famous for its pop culture parodies and satirical jabs at celebrities,” the studio said in a statement. “We are surprised that Ms. Burnett, who has made a career of spoofing others on television, would go so far as to sue ‘Family Guy’ for a simple bit of comedy.”

As a fan of both shows I think I am going to side with Family Guy on this one. You know that expression “what comes around, goes around” well as the spokesperson said she did the same thing all the time 40 years ago so what is the difference now?

BTW you can read the lawsuit at The Smoking Gun for more details.

Remember Mario Vasquez who quit American Idol and never gave a good reason, well looks like we might finally know why? But the person making the claim was fired from American Idol and waited two years to sue Vasquez, Fox and Fremantle. Having said that here is what came out today, a man who used to work as an assistant accountant for Freemantle claims that Vasquez sexually harassed him before he quit the show.

TMZ obtained the lawsuit that was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court today. In the lawsuit, Magdaleno Olmos claims "Vazquez stared lasciviously, smiled lasciviously … and on one occasion followed him into a bathroom … knocked on the door of the plaintiff's stall and made eye contact through the space in the stall door." The lawsuit alleges that Vazquez "started to rub his genitals over his pants. Attempting to leave the bathroom, Olmos opened the door of the stall and saw Vazquez standing in front of him with his pants down masturbating." According to the documents, Vazquez pushed Olmos "further into the stall and continued masturbating with one hand and trying to pull down Olmos' pants with another hand." Olmos claims that he tried to "cover his body with his hands" but Vazquez touched his "chest and stomach underneath his shirt, and Olmos' "genitals" as Vazquez "attempted to unzip" Olmos' pants. Vazquez then allegedly asked Olmos "if he wanted oral sex." In the lawsuit, Olmos claims that as he "managed to get out of the stall, and attempted to leave the bathroom," Vazquez, grabbed his arm "in an effort to stop him." Vazquez continued to call Olmos to come back as Vazquez "stood in the bathroom with his pants still down." In the suit, Olmos claims that he tried to report the incident to a superior named Eric LaPointe, who allegedly responded by telling Olmos that "he was crazy" and "repeatedly threatening to fire" him. A few months after the incident, Olmos claims he was "terminated." Olmos is also suing for wrongful termination. 

It just seems so weird for this guy to come forward now two years later, 6 months after Vasquez's album came out and failed. The timing just seems so weird don't you think?

And I can't resist making this joke, but does anyone know if Vasquez's idol was George Michael?  

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