Introduction
The contract can be perceived as a bond between two parties that is based on reciprocal agreements and is expected to be followed by the parties involved in it. Nonetheless, there may occur situations when the underlying concepts of a contract can be disregarded either legally or dishonestly (Smits, 2014). The problem consists in the complexity of the ethical features of a contract that cannot be mitigated easily. There are numerous ways to break a contract that limits its effectiveness as a means of a written agreement. These restrictions can be described as cheat codes that are inherent in contract law but cannot be used at all times and under any given circumstances.
How to Break a Contract?
First of all, the complexity of the situation can be reflected by the weaknesses inherent in termination clauses. The legal language that is used to compose these clauses can be utilized to end the contract prematurely. Moreover, despite the “bond” described above, any of the parties have the right to break the contract if certain conditions of the agreement are not in line with the initial indenture (Frey, 2015). In other words, a simple proper notice can be presented to one of the parties so as to justify the use of a termination clause. Despite their unethical nature, termination clauses are absolutely legal and are recurrently used by numerous employers all over the world.
One of the upsides, nonetheless, is the fact that you may be required to pay a fine for getting out of the contract (the other party has no right to file a lawsuit anyway). It may also happen that the other party merely does not follow the guidelines prescribed in the agreement (DiMatteo & Hogg, 2016). In this case, the contract can be terminated prematurely on an undeniably legal basis (we can also take into account the fact that the legal grounds to end the contract appear as soon as one of the parties disregards the requirements of the agreement). The issue with contracts is that not everyone reads them from beginning to the end, but there are ways to breach the agreement almost at all times.
Again, one of the advantages is that if the other party can prove that they were deceived, they can break the contract on legal terms without being fined (Andrews, 2015). The value of a contract can be assessed when one of the parties claims that they cannot adhere to the guidelines of the contract due to certain circumstances. The inability to perform is considered to be one of the most unfair causes of contract termination due to the failure to prevent or mitigate any of the premises of withdrawal from an agreement. If one of the parties is able to prove that they are required to break the contract, the value of the latter will start tending to zero immediately.
Conclusion
The basic points of the contract can be negotiated, of course, but the presence of numerous loopholes in the concept of an agreement contributes to its ultimate ineffectiveness. The problem is that the business environment cannot exist without legal contracts, and that enables a set of issues that cannot be alleviated or predicted by any of the parties involved. The specifics of contract law do not allow us to reach a mutually affable resolution in 100% of the cases, but there is still hope that alternative dispute resolution can serve as a means of facilitating the process of signing and getting out of contracts without harming other parties.
References
Andrews, N. (2015). Contract law. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
DiMatteo, L. A., & Hogg, M. (2016). Comparative contract law: British and American perspectives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Frey, M. A. (2015). Essentials of contract law. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Smits, J. M. (2014). Contract law: A comparative introduction. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.