According to this article lawsuits between businesses are multiplying rapidly. There has been particular growth in lawsuits arising out of business contracts.
The article does not go into detail about why this is. In my experience, it involves a number of things. (1) Many businesses do not have lawyers draft, or review, their contracts before putting them into use. Some of these contracts go out to thousands of clients. A mistake, or a failure to add a clause reflecting an important legal protection, can be multiplied hundreds, or thousands of times. (2) Often, a business will settle on a form contract, then use it over and over, for years on end without ever changing it. Yet the law changes every year; even every month. In North Carolina alone, there are hundreds of decisions every year that act as precedent in cases involving contracts, as well as the potentially devastating Unfair and Deceptive Practices Act, which permits triple damages, often in very routine business to business breach of contract litigation.
The moral of the story? Make sure your contracts and business practices are as up to date as possible; if your contracts with customers, vendors, suppliers, distributors and everyone else you do business with aren't up to date with the latest developments in business and contract law, you could be staring at one of these "bet the company cases.
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