Breach of Contract Attorney – California

Last updated: September 2026

Kolmogorov Law, P.C. is a business litigation firm in Irvine, California. Founder Pavel Kolmogorov (State Bar No. 321018) represents companies and owners on both sides of breach of contract disputes, from vendor and service agreements to purchase, operating, and partnership agreements. The firm appears in the Superior Courts of Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Clara Counties, in the Central, Northern, and Southern Districts of California, and in JAMS and AAA arbitration.

A contract is only as good as your ability to enforce it. When a customer refuses to pay, a supplier fails to deliver, a partner walks away from an agreement, or a counterparty claims you are the one in breach, Kolmogorov Law, P.C. represents California businesses on both sides of contract disputes. We are a business litigation firm based in Irvine, and breach of contract claims are the core of what we do. If you are searching for a breach of contract lawyer in California, this page explains how we handle these cases and what to expect.

Breach of Contract Cases We Handle

Unpaid invoices and refusal to pay for goods or services delivered.
Vendor, supplier, and distribution agreement breaches.
Service and consulting agreements, including SaaS and licensing terms.
Commercial lease disputes between landlords and business tenants.
Purchase and sale agreements, including post-closing disputes.
Partnership, LLC operating, and shareholder agreements.
Non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements.
Settlement agreements that one side stops honoring.
Defense of breach claims brought against your business.

What You Must Prove in California

A breach of contract claim in California requires four things: a valid contract, your own performance (or a valid excuse for not performing), the other side's breach, and resulting damages. Each element is where cases are won or lost. “Valid contract” disputes turn on whether terms were definite enough and whether an oral or emailed agreement counts; many do. “Performance” disputes turn on whether you met your own obligations first. And damages must be proven with reasonable certainty, not guessed at. (Civ. Code, §§ 3300, 3301.)

Written contracts carry a four-year limitations period; oral contracts, two years. (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 337, 339.) The clock generally runs from the breach, not from when you discovered it, which is why waiting to “see if they come around” can cost you the claim. Our statute of limitations guide covers the exceptions.

What You Can Recover

Contract damages are meant to put you where you would have been had the contract been performed: the benefit of the bargain, plus consequential losses that were foreseeable when the contract was made. In the right case, a court can order specific performance (compelling the other side to do what it promised) or rescission, unwinding the deal and restoring what you paid.

Attorney's fees are recoverable only where the contract or a statute provides for them (Code Civ. Proc. § 1021), and when a contract has a fee clause, California makes it reciprocal: whichever side prevails recovers, regardless of how the clause was written. (Civ. Code, § 1717.) That single clause often decides whether a case is worth litigating.

How We Approach a Contract Dispute

Most contract disputes should not go to trial, and the ones that should are worth preparing for from day one. We start with the contract, the correspondence, and the numbers: what was promised, what was performed, what the breach actually cost. From there, a well-drafted demand letter resolves a meaningful share of cases before a complaint is filed. When it does not, we use the tools California procedure gives a well-prepared plaintiff: a pre-judgment writ of attachment to secure assets early, a Section 998 offer to shift costs, and disciplined discovery. Our guide to how long a breach of contract case takes explains the stages.

If you have been accused of breach, the same analysis applies in reverse: whether the other side performed first, whether conditions were satisfied, whether performance was excused, and whether the claimed damages are real. Defenses like impossibility, waiver, and the other side's own prior breach are frequently decisive.

Breach of Contract Attorney in Orange County, Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Diego

Orange County and Irvine. Our office is in Irvine, and most of our contract cases are filed in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, with complex commercial matters assigned to the Civil Complex Center. If you need a breach of contract attorney in Orange County, we are local to the court and to the business community that fills its docket. See our Orange County and Irvine pages.

Los Angeles. We handle breach of contract cases in Los Angeles Superior Court, including the Stanley Mosk courthouse and the complex civil departments, for companies across Los Angeles County. See our Los Angeles page.

San Diego. For San Diego businesses, we litigate contract disputes in San Diego Superior Court and the Southern District of California. See our San Diego page.

Where We Represent Clients

We litigate contract disputes in Orange County Superior Court (including the Civil Complex Center in Santa Ana) and throughout California, with dedicated practice pages for Irvine, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. Many commercial contracts require arbitration; we handle JAMS and AAA proceedings as well.

What to Bring to the Consultation

The signed contract and every amendment, the correspondence around the breach, invoices and payment records, any notice or demand letters already exchanged, and a short timeline of who did what and when. If the contract has an arbitration, venue, or attorney's fee clause, flag it. Those provisions shape where and how the case proceeds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an email or text message exchange a binding contract in California?

It can be. California enforces oral and informal written agreements when the essential terms are definite and both sides intended to be bound. Certain agreements (real estate transfers, contracts that cannot be performed within a year, and sales of goods over $500) must be in writing, but a chain of emails often satisfies that requirement.

How long do I have to sue for breach of contract?

Four years for a written contract and two years for an oral one, generally running from the date of breach. (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 337, 339.)

Can I recover my attorney's fees?

Only if the contract has an attorney's fee clause or a statute provides for fees. If the contract has a fee clause, it applies to both sides under Civil Code section 1717, including a clause the other side drafted to protect only itself.

The other side says I breached first. Does that matter?

Often it is the whole case. A party who materially breached first generally cannot enforce the contract against the other side. Establishing the sequence of performance and breach is usually the first task in any contract dispute.

Should I send a demand letter before suing?

In most cases, yes. A precise demand letter resolves many disputes without litigation, creates a record of good faith, and can be required by the contract's notice-and-cure provisions. See our demand letter guide.

What if the other side has no money to pay a judgment?

Collectability should be evaluated before you file, not after you win. Pre-judgment attachment can secure assets early, and our judgment enforcement practice handles liens, levies, and debtor examinations once a judgment is entered.

Talk to a California Breach of Contract Attorney

Whether you need to enforce an agreement or defend against a claim, contact Kolmogorov Law, P.C. at (909) 235-6116 or through our contact page. Our office is at 327 Magnet, Irvine, CA 92618. For common questions, see our Breach of Contract FAQ.

This page provides general information about California law and is not legal advice. Every contract dispute depends on its documents and facts.