In the first of our series of 19-minute teleconferences on the impacts of COVID-19, leaders of our COVID-19 Task Force discussed force majeure provisions and the doctrine of impracticability as they apply to commercial contracts in the United States.

Key Takeaways from the Teleconference Include:

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• Consider establishing a process for assessing how force majeure will affect your business to include review of contracts and preparation of notices to customers and affected partners
  
• Consider sending regular updates to customers but be wary of assuming they will count as notices under your force majeure clause
  
• Send a force majeure notice before the breach occurs
  
• The availability of a defense of force majeure depends on contract language and possibly, state law
  
• Consider establishing and documenting allocation methods if products become scarce
  
• We’re in uncharted waters here – no one knows how this is going to shake out. The law is sparse and in very different contexts