Force majeure, frustration and changed circumstances are the doctrines parties reach for when performance becomes difficult, dangerous or commercially ruinous, but they are far narrower than most executives assume. For a board, the risk is treating a hardship as automatic relief, suspending or abandoning performance, and thereby committing a repudiatory breach when no excuse in fact applied. This report explains how these doctrines operate in your chosen jurisdiction and industry, the strict tests for invoking a force majeure clause versus the common-law doctrine of frustration, the notice and mitigation duties involved, realistic exposure ranges if relief is wrongly claimed, and the warning indicators of disputed performance, with guidance on when to take counsel before declaring relief.
Reference material for informed readers, not advice.
