Overview
An industrial manufacturer was sued by a long-time component supplier claiming $1.2M in unpaid invoices and lost profits after the manufacturer switched suppliers mid-contract. The manufacturer maintained the supplier’s delivery failures justified the switch.
Challenge
The contract was a patchwork: a master agreement, three inconsistent purchase-order templates, and years of email side arrangements. Quality-rejection records were incomplete, and the supplier had a facially strong claim on unpaid invoices that the manufacturer had simply stopped paying rather than formally disputing.
Approach
We reconstructed the contractual record from purchase orders and correspondence, built a documented timeline of delivery failures and cure notices, and quantified the manufacturer’s cost-of-cover damages from the switch. With the evidentiary picture assembled, we moved the matter to mediation early — before both sides had sunk discovery costs — and negotiated a walk-away resolution with mutual releases.
Outcome
The claim settled at mediation for approximately 15% of the amount sued, with each party bearing its own costs. Immediately after, we replaced the patchwork documentation with a single master supply agreement containing clear quality standards, a formal dispute-and-cure procedure, and termination rights tied to objective delivery metrics.
Related practice area: Commercial Disputes
Portfolio demo notice: this matter is a fictional demonstration created for a portfolio site. It does not describe a real client or real legal outcome.