Insights

Washington, D.C. – April 1, 2026: Crowell & Moring has won the Litigation of the Year – Cartel Defense Award at the 2026 Global Competition Review (GCR) Awards. These awards recognize the world's leading antitrust lawyers, economists, and enforcers, and highlights the most significant cases from 2025.

Washington – July 8, 2025: Crowell & Moring has secured summary judgment on behalf of longtime firm client CSX Transportation, Inc., prevailing in nearly 20 years of multi-district litigation known as In re Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Antitrust Litigation. Crowell and three other leading firms representing prominent rail companies led a joint defense group in one of the longest-running and most complex antitrust litigations in U.S. history.

Washington – December 18, 2020: Global Competition Review ranked Crowell & Moring’s Antitrust & Competition Group in its annual “GCR 100” – the leading ranking of the world’s competition policy law and economics practices. This year marks the 21st edition of the awards and the 14th consecutive year that the Antitrust & Competition Group has been recognized.

COVID-19 has disrupted and will continue disrupting supply chains in many important ways, as suppliers, carriers and buyers navigate the global pandemic. But does the pandemic allow activation of force majeure clauses in your contracts? If a force majeure clause is activated, what are the rights and responsibilities of each party during the pandemic? When does performance restart and how? And, what if there is a dispute?

Many businesses have issued notices to and/or received notices from a contracting party invoking force majeure, or a similar doctrine to excuse non-performance, based on a COVID-19 related business disruption. However, it is not always clear that the party issuing the notice is permitted to either suspend performance or terminate the contract because of a force majeure event.

The impacts of COVID-19 are rapidly evolving and quickly disrupting business operations. If they haven’t already done so, many businesses are deciding whether to activate contractual force majeure clauses or looking to other doctrines that may excuse non-performance. While many businesses during this global pandemic may want to address performance disruptions amicably to the extent possible, understanding how disputes over force majeure clauses are decided allows a business to act strategically. This is true whether you are the party seeking damages for non-performance or invoking a defense to performance. Even with a well-crafted force majeure clause, parties can disagree about whether the defense applies, what the implications are to continued performance, and what damages, if any, are recoverable. While each dispute is highly fact-specific and likely to be affected by the language of the contract and governing law, we provide guidance below on the factors most likely to be relevant to resolution of the dispute.

Many businesses are invoking force majeure and related legal doctrines to suspend performance in the wake of the global pandemic. Even if the dispute will likely be resolved amicably, understanding and protecting your rights is critical to the best outcome. Join Crowell & Moring litigators as they explore key issues in force majeure disputes and how to position your company for success at the negotiating table, in court, or in arbitration.

Join us for a discussion addressing those issues facing businesses as they prepare to resume performance of contracts that has been disrupted by the pandemic and its impacts: options for termination, whether and when resumption of performance is required, and whether to provide notice of the end of the disruption.