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You Makes Your Choice And Takes Your Chances

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 05.30.06

The Federal Circuit in the Winstar -related case of Old Stone Corp. v. U.S. (May 25, 2006) struck down a $118 million restitutionary damages award to the bank, explaining that, because the bank decided to continue operating after the breach occurred, attempting to make a go of it despite the government's breach, it had waived its right to declare a "total breach" and collect restitutionary damages to put it back in the pre-contracting situation when it went under several years later. On the other hand, foreseeable damages directly related to mitigating the effects of the breach, in this case $74.5 million, were available, and that part of the judgment was affirmed.

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Client Alert | 4 min read | 08.13.26

Supreme Court Confirms Contractual Loss of Bargain Without Repudiatory Breach

English law has long treated the choice between terminating for repudiatory breach and exercising a contractual termination right as consequential. Under the Financings[1] causation principle, a party exercising a contractual right for a non-repudiatory breach could recover losses accrued to the date of termination — but nothing more. Loss of bargain was out of reach unless the breach went to the root of the contract. A practical workaround, confirmed in Lombard,[2] was to designate the relevant obligation as a condition, elevating any breach to repudiatory status, but that device carries significant strategic risk if the termination is later found to have been wrongful....