A contract dispute can be burdensome to Texas entrepreneurs trying to run a business. It is therefore useful for business owners to try to handle such matters as promptly and efficiently as possible. Recently, a contract dispute that threatened the existence of a new Corpus Christi bar pitted new owners against former ones who were trying to establish a new business nearby.

The current owners of a business known as The Reserve accused the former owners of breach of contract. The owners of The Reserve say their predecessors violated the terms of a sales contract that prohibited the latter from opening an establishment that sells alcohol within a mile of the older bar. The Reserve’s new owners also blame its former owners for loss of business and for poaching some of the bar’s employees when opening a competing business called Izzy’s.

On Nov. 22, a Texas district judge issued a temporary order for the former owners to shut down Izzy’s until a hearing could be held during the week following Thanksgiving. However, the judge reversed his decision less than 24 hours later and allowed the new bar to stay open. This action prompted a hearing on Dec. 6, but later that day the two sides reached a settlement. Now Izzy’s will be allowed to stay open so long as its owners adhere to the terms of a confidential settlement.

The two sides appear to have resolved their contract dispute amicably. However, such conflicts cannot always be resolved without extended court proceedings. Whatever the scope and complexity of a contract dispute, it is vital that the relevant legal protections afforded to Texas businesses are upheld in court.

Source: kztv10.com, “Bar Dispute Settled,” Dec. 7, 2011