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Video Transcribed: Tulsa attorney Brian Carter, with Tulsaconstructionlawyer.com. And this video I’m going to expand upon a previous video I had on some defenses a contractor can raise in the event of a lawsuit. On this video I’m going to focus on affirmative defenses.
There are quite a few of them available to a contract. And essentially an affirmative defense is raised by a defendant, asserting facts, that if true, can defeat a plaintiff’s claim, even if the underlying facts of the claim are proved to be true.
Some of the affirmative defenses that are popular are substantial performance, satisfaction in the court, payment in full, economic, the economic loss doctrine, voluntary payment doctrine, failure of the condition precedent, or subsequent agency ratification, which I have talked about previously.
Doctrine of unclean hands, waiver, estoppel, latches, statute of limitations, fraud, prevention of performance, injury or damages caused by a third-party, failure to mitigate, and that the defendant acted in a commercially reasonable manner, or on the flip side, the plaintiff acted in a un-commercially reasonable manner, or failed to act in a commercially reasonable manner. And, lastly, the right to offset damages and release.
Those are a handful of the affirmative defenses that are available to a contractor if there’s a suit against them. And again, it’s a defense that if proven true, will defeat a plaintiff’s claim, even though the facts of the claim are established.
Thanks for watching Brian Carter, Tulsaconstructionlawyer.com.
