Business Contract Attorneys: Draft It Right, Enforce It When Needed
Every business owner has done it. The deal was moving, the other side sent "their standard agreement," and you signed it on a Friday to keep things alive. Months later, something goes wrong — and now the answer to every question is buried in a document nobody read closely.
A business contract attorney exists to prevent exactly that. Our attorneys draft, review, and negotiate the agreements your company runs on — fast. And because we litigate too, we write contracts the way litigators read them: looking for the hole someone will try to walk through later.
Contract Drafting and Negotiation
Service agreements
Scope, payment terms, and what happens when a client won't pay.
Vendor and supplier agreements
Delivery, quality, and remedies when a supplier fails you.
NDAs and confidentiality agreements
Protection that's actually enforceable, not just intimidating.
Purchase and sale agreements
The paper behind buying or selling equipment, inventory, or a business itself.
Partnership and operating agreements
The contract between co-owners, drafted alongside our entity formation attorneys so structure and terms match.
Employment-adjacent agreements
Independent contractor agreements, offer terms, and separation agreements, coordinated with employment counsel where needed.
Commercial leases
Often the biggest contract a business ever signs; our real estate transaction attorneys handle these under the same roof.
Good drafting is mostly about the boring clauses nobody reads: indemnification, limitation of liability, termination rights. Here's why they matter. We negotiate the limitation of liability clause — this means that when something goes wrong, your exposure is capped at a number you can survive, not an open-ended threat to the company. We tighten the indemnification language — this means that when a third party sues over your vendor's mistake, the vendor pays for it, not you. And we watch the dispute resolution clause — whether a disagreement goes to mediation, binding arbitration, or court, and in which county — because that one paragraph decides how every future fight gets fought, and what it costs.
Enforcement and Breach of Contract
Sometimes the other side just doesn't perform. The customer won't pay. The supplier won't deliver. The partner won't honor the terms. That's a breach of contract, and you have options — usually more than you think.
Enforcement is a ladder, and we start on the lowest rung that works:
- The demand letter. A precise, attorney-signed letter stating the breach, the contract terms, and the deadline to fix it. A surprising number of disputes end here — it signals you're serious without the cost of a lawsuit.
- Negotiated resolution. Most breaches settle. We push for the payment, the performance, or the exit terms that make your business whole — measured in damages recovered, not motions filed.
- Litigation. When the other side won't move, we file. Our attorneys pursue damages, and where money can't fix it, specific performance — a court order requiring the other side to do what the contract says.
Because our attorneys handle business disputes and litigation directly, the lawyer who reviewed your contract is backed by the team that can enforce it. It changes how negotiations go.
Legal Compliance & Enforcement for Growing Companies
Contracts don't live in a drawer — they live in how your business runs every day. Our legal compliance and enforcement work keeps the two aligned:
- Contract audits. We review the agreements your business already relies on and flag the gaps before a dispute finds them.
- Standard templates. Your own service agreement, your own NDA, your own terms — built once, used hundreds of times, so you stop signing everyone else's paper.
- Ongoing counsel. As laws and your business change, your contracts should too. We keep them current so a stale clause never becomes a live problem.
This is the quiet work that prevents the loud problems. It's also where an ongoing relationship with one firm pays off — we already know your business, so every answer comes faster.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a verbal contract enforceable in California?
Many verbal contracts are enforceable in California, but important exceptions exist under the statute of frauds. Contracts that must be in writing include agreements for the sale of real estate, leases longer than one year, and contracts that cannot be performed within one year. Proving the terms of a verbal agreement is also far harder than proving a written one.
Translation: a handshake deal isn't automatically worthless — but it's a fight about memory instead of a fight about words on a page. Get it in writing. It doesn't have to be long; it has to be clear.
What makes a contract unenforceable?
A contract can be unenforceable in California when it lacks essential elements — offer, acceptance, and consideration (something of value exchanged by each side) — or when it was signed under fraud, duress, or serious mistake. Contracts with illegal terms, missing required writings under the statute of frauds, or terms too vague to interpret can also fail.
If you're worried a contract you signed — or one you want out of — falls into one of these categories, don't guess. The answer usually turns on details, and the details are exactly what we'll look at first.
The Contract Is the Business. Treat It That Way.
Whether you need one agreement reviewed before Friday or a full set of templates your company can run on, start by sending us the document. We'll tell you what it says, what it should say, and what the fix costs — before you commit to anything.
