Key points
- Identify the enforceable obligation and distinguish established facts from interpretations.
- Link each amount claimed to supporting documents and the alleged breach.
- Check jurisdiction, applicable law and procedural rules before selecting a course of action.
Identify the obligation and the purpose of the claim
A contractual disagreement may involve outstanding obligations, incomplete deliveries, disputed payments or additional expenditure. Before a claim is formulated, the file should identify the obligation undertaken, who was to perform it, when it became due and the outcome sought. Recovering money, securing performance and bringing a contractual relationship to an end are different objectives.
The Federal Civil Code connects the contract with its agreed terms and the consequences arising from good faith, usage or law. Its scope is federal; the applicable code must be determined in a local matter. This distinction avoids automatically applying a federal provision to every civil dispute. [1]
Build a verifiable chronology
A useful chronology links each event to its supporting material: contract, amendment, delivery, demand, response and payment record. It also identifies missing documents and who holds the originals. Distinguishing confirmed information from conflicting accounts helps identify the issues that genuinely require clarification.
Communications should be retained with their attachments and context. An internal summary assists the work but does not replace the underlying documents. Where several departments were involved in the relationship, bringing their records together avoids building the claim solely on the most recent conversation or an incomplete account of the disagreement.
Explain the amounts and their connection to the breach
As a federal reference, Articles 2108 to 2110 distinguish loss to assets from lawful gains forgone and require an immediate and direct consequence of the breach. Quantification should not be confused with an unsupported estimate. [1]
A working schedule can distinguish principal, partial payments, expenditure and other items requiring legal analysis. For each item, the date, calculation and supporting material should be identified, avoiding duplication. Where an amount depends on future assumptions or a technical assessment, that dependency should be recorded when evaluating the strength of the claim.
Select a course of action using the complete file
Once the documentation is organised, negotiation, a formal settlement or a litigation strategy can be assessed. The decision needs to consider the counterparty, jurisdiction, time limits and prospects of enforcement; a substantial claim does not guarantee recovery.
The National Code of Civil and Family Procedure applies gradually through implementation declarations. The procedure must therefore be checked for the jurisdiction, subject matter and date of the case, without assuming that every court already uses the same regime. That check forms part of preparing both a claim and a defence. [2]
Sources consulted
- Federal Civil Code Articles 1, 1796 and 2108 to 2110.
- National Code of Civil and Family Procedure Second transitional article of the enacting decree published on 7 June 2023; note on gradual implementation on the first page of the consolidated text.
General information. Application to a particular matter requires assessment of its circumstances and the provisions in force.
