Year in Review: Key Contract Litigation Insights from 2025

As we do every year, we published numerous articles on our blog throughout 2025 that provide important insights for business owners facing disputes—both internal and external. When facing a dispute that threatens to disrupt your business’s operations (or jeopardize its viability as a going concern), it is critical to ensure you make informed, strategic decisions. With this in mind, in this article, we are taking a look back at some of the key insights our Miami commercial litigation attorneys shared throughout the year.

For much of the year, we focused on writing articles that address the unique considerations in various types of commercial contract disputes—from pricing and fee disputes to those involving the need to seek injunctive relief or specific performance. But we also published a couple of articles focused on the practical considerations involved in facing an internal dispute between shareholders.

Contract Disputes Involving Pricing and Fees

Disputes over pricing and fees are among the most common—and most contentious—disputes in the commercial setting. Whether your company needs to enforce a counterparty’s payment obligations or you need to defend your company’s decision not to pay, you will need to promptly make informed and strategic decisions based on the relevant contract terms and the circumstances at hand. For an overview of common payment-related disputes and key steps to take when facing these disputes, you can read: Contract Disputes Involving Pricing and Fees: When One Party Claims Underpayment.

Contract Disputes Involving Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

Many companies use service level agreements (SLAs) to establish mutual expectations in vendor relationships. Sometimes SLAs are enforceable and sometimes they aren’t—and, sometimes, it isn’t clear what it means if a vendor fails to meet an SLA.

Service level agreements are often vague, and this vagueness can lead to differences of opinion despite the parties’ attempts to establish mutual expectations. For an overview of some key considerations—and some potential means of resolution—when facing a dispute involving SLAs, you can read: Contract Disputes Involving Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Are They Enforceable or Not?

Contract Disputes Involving Renewals

When a commercial contract is set to expire, a key consideration for both parties is whether to renew. If the contract is silent on renewal, it is generally up to the parties to decide whether to engage in renewal negotiations. But, if the contract is not silent, what it says—and what it doesn’t say—will play a critical role in determining the parties’ respective rights. For an overview of some key considerations involved in resolving disagreements over whether to renew, you can read: Contract Disputes Involving Renewals: What if One Party Refuses to Renew on Reasonable Terms?

Contract Disputes Involving Cybersecurity Breaches

Cybersecurity threats are an omnipresent concern for all types of businesses. If your business experiences a cybersecurity breach—or if a vendor or customer experiences a cybersecurity breach—the decisions you make in its immediate aftermath can have significant repercussions for your business’s legal rights and risk exposure. For an overview of some of the key legal considerations involved in responding to a cybersecurity incident, you can read: Contract Disputes Involving Cybersecurity Breaches: Key Insights for Business Owners.

Contract Disputes Involving Third-Party Claims

Along with disputes arising from certain types of cybersecurity breaches, companies can also face a wide range of other third-party claims. These include everything from intellectual property infringement claims to personal injury and wrongful death claims. A commercial contract’s “boilerplate” terms can play a key role in this scenario, including those regarding indemnification and insurance coverage. For an overview of some of the key legal considerations involved in commercial contract disputes involving third-party claims, you can read: Contract Disputes Involving Third-Party Claims: Indemnification, Insurance & More.

Contract Disputes Involving Mandatory ADR

Commercial contracts routinely include provisions that require the parties to submit all (or most) disputes to mediation or arbitration. These “mandatory ADR” clauses can take various forms and suffer from oversights and ambiguities. If your company is facing a commercial contract dispute that is subject to (or may be subject to) mandatory mediation or arbitration, we encourage you to read: Contract Disputes Involving Mandatory ADR: When Mediation or Arbitration is Required.

Contract Disputes Involving Imminent or Ongoing Harm

One common exception to mandatory ADR is the ability to seek emergency injunctive relief in court when necessary. When an imminent or ongoing threat poses the risk of irreversible damage, seeking emergency injunctive relief can be critical. To learn more about when this type of relief is (and isn’t) available—and to learn about some key legal and practical considerations for seeking this type of relief—you can read: Contract Disputes Involving Imminent or Ongoing Harm: Seeking Preliminary Injunctive Relief.

Contract Disputes Involving Efforts to Force Compliance

While injunctive relief prohibits a party from engaging in a certain action, an award of specific performance compels a certain action over the compelled party’s objections. While specific performance is an uncommon remedy, it is important to know when your company can—and should—seek it in court. For an overview of some key legal and practical considerations involved in seeking specific performance, you can read: Contract Disputes Involving Efforts to Force Compliance: When Specific Performance Is (and Isn’t) a Remedy.

What to Expect in Shareholder Litigation in Florida

Disputes between shareholders can disrupt companies’ operations and, in some cases, lead to an irreconcilable breakdown of the shareholders’ business relationship. When facing an internal dispute with your company’s co-owners, informed and strategic decision-making is essential. For an introduction to what you need to know in order to make informed and strategic decisions in this scenario, you can read: Shareholder Disputes: Understanding the Litigation Process and Its Alternatives.

Key Considerations for Settling Shareholder Disputes in Florida

While some shareholder disputes lead to litigation, in many cases, it is in all parties’ best interests to pursue an amicable resolution. Whether this resolution means keeping the company’s current ownership structure intact will depend on the circumstances involved. For an introduction to some key considerations involved in settling shareholder disputes, you can read: 7 Key Considerations When Settling a Shareholder or Partnership Dispute in Florida.

Schedule a Free Consultation with a Miami Commercial Litigation Attorney at Edelboim Lieberman

Edelboim Lieberman is a commercial litigation law firm based in South Florida, representing clients statewide. If you would like to speak with a Miami commercial litigation attorney at our firm about a commercial contract or shareholder dispute, please call 305-768-9909 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation.