Force majeure clauses set forth the circumstances in which a party owing a duty under the contract (the obligor) is excused from all or partial performance of that obligation, typically due to circumstances beyond the obligor's reasonable control.
The Force Majeure clause should clearly identify the obligations that will be excused in the event of a Force Majeure event. The clause may specify that all obligations will be excused or only certain obligations, depending on the nature of the contract and the parties' preferences.
Because the concept is foreign, lawyers who review or draft contracts governed by U.S. law should start with the assumptions that 1) principles of force majeure will not be implied in a contract that does not expressly provide for them, and 2) U.S. courts will interpret and apply force majeure provisions narrowly.
Sample Language 3 The Parties hereby acknowledge that while current events related to the current epidemic/pandemic are known, future impacts of the outbreak are unforeseeable and shall be considered a Force Majeure event to the extent that they prevent the performance of a Party's obligations under this Agreement.
The force majeure clause is a contract provision that relieves involved parties from performing their contract obligations if extreme circumstances or “major unforeseen events” outside of their control arise that would make performing these obligations impossible, inadvisable, or dangerous.
Either Party shall be excused from performance and shall not be in default in respect of any obligation hereunder to the extent that the failure to perform such obligation is due to a Natural Force Majeure Event.
If a contract does not include a force majeure provision, a party may nonetheless be excused from performance under the concept of commercial impracticality.
Force majeure clauses are contractual clauses which alter parties' obligations and/or liabilities under a contract when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond their control prevents one or all of them from fulfilling those obligations.
Under the Parental Leave Act, you are entitled to Force Majeure leave where for urgent family reasons, your immediate presence is required owing to an injury or illness of a close family member.
Force majeure is the situation-based doctrine under which a supervening event may excuse liability for non-performance, provided the supervening event is unforeseeable, uncontrollable, and makes the performance of an obligation impossible – thus qualifying as a “force majeure event”.