Ebola Catching Attention of Business and Legal Community

Ebola Catching Attention of Business and Legal Community

While widespread Ebola threats in the business and legal community may never materialize, the virus is having a real impact on the commodities market. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Ebola has caused significant trading delays and disruptions in West Africa. While the region imports much of its food, it also exports valuable commodities such as cocoa and bauxite, which is used to make aluminum.

One of the primary legal concerns is whether force majeure clauses apply to Ebola. As previously discussed on the Scarinci Hollenbeck Business News Blog, force majeure clauses relieve the parties from performing their duties under the contract in certain circumstances deemed beyond their control that make performance inadvisable, commercially impracticable, illegal, or impossible. Examples include natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and other “acts of God.” However, they also apply to man made disasters including war, terrorism, civil disorder, supply shortages, and labor strikes.

In the absence of a force majeure clause, parties must rely on the common law remedies such as impracticability and frustration of purpose, which are generally much less favorable. Therefore, for those companies that may be impacted, it is imperative to review any applicable contracts and seek the advice of an experienced attorney.

If you have any questions about this post or would like to discuss how international crises may impact your business, please contact me or the Scarinci Hollenbeck attorney with whom you work.