You're probably thinking about a "Force Majeure" clause because something just went sideways. Or maybe you're staring at a thirty-page contract and wondering if that "Acts of God" section actually does anything when a shipping port freezes up or a local government suddenly changes the zoning laws. Most people treat these clauses like the "Terms and Conditions" on an iPhone update. They skip them.
That is a massive mistake.
Essentially, force majeure is the legal "get out of jail free" card—but the deck is stacked against you. It's a French term that literally means "superior force." In the world of contracts, it refers to extraordinary events that are completely beyond the control of the parties involved, making it impossible to fulfill an agreement. But here is the kicker: just because things got hard doesn't mean you're off the hook.
I’ve seen businesses fold because they assumed a pandemic or a war would automatically trigger a force majeure protection. It doesn't work that way. If your contract doesn't explicitly name the event, or if you can't prove that the event directly caused your failure to perform, you're still liable. You’re still on the hook for the money.
Why Your Force Majeure Clause Might Be Useless
Most templates you find online are garbage. They list things like "lightning, tempests, and civil unrest" but forget to mention the stuff that actually happens in 2026, like systemic cyberattacks or sudden export bans on critical minerals.
Courts are notoriously picky. They use a principle called expressio unius est exclusio alterius. Basically, if you list specific events like "fire and floods," a judge might decide that because you didn't mention "global pandemic," the pandemic doesn't count. You essentially traded away your protection by being too specific without a catch-all phrase.
Then there’s the "foreseeability" trap.
If you signed a contract in 2024 for a project in a known conflict zone, you can't really claim force majeure when a riot breaks out. You knew the risk. You took the gamble. The law expects you to have planned for it. To win a force majeure argument, the event has to be something no reasonable person could have seen coming. It has to be truly "unforeseeable."
The Difference Between "Hard" and "Impossible"
This is where people get burned. There is a huge legal gap between "it’s now very expensive for me to do this" and "it is physically impossible for me to do this."
Standard force majeure doesn't care about your profit margins. If the price of lithium triples because of a strike in Chile, that sucks for you, but you generally still have to deliver those batteries. Financial hardship is almost never considered a superior force. You are expected to eat the loss. Unless your contract has a specific "hardship" or "gross inequity" clause, you’re just a business owner having a bad year.
Real World Triggers: From COVID-19 to 2026 Supply Chains
We learned a lot from 2020. Before the pandemic, most lawyers thought force majeure was a dusty relic. Then, suddenly, every restaurant, venue, and manufacturer in the world tried to invoke it at once.
Look at the case of JN Contemporary Art LLC v. Phillips Auctioneers LLC. The auction house canceled a major sale because of COVID-19. The court actually upheld the force majeure claim because the contract mentioned "other circumstances beyond our reasonable control." It was a win for the auction house, but it only happened because their language was broad enough to catch a once-in-a-century plague.
Fast forward to today. We are seeing a shift toward "climate-related force majeure."
As sea levels rise and "100-year storms" happen every three years, insurance companies and tech firms are rewriting these sections. If you're operating a data center in a flood zone, "extreme weather" might not be a valid excuse anymore. It’s becoming a predictable cost of doing business.
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What About "Acts of Government"?
This is the sneaky one. Sometimes it's not nature that stops you; it's a guy in an office. When a government issues an export ban or a sudden tariff, that can trigger a force majeure event—if your contract says so.
- Labor Strikes: Usually included, but if it's your employees striking because you didn't pay them, don't expect a judge to bail you out.
- Energy Shortages: This is the new frontier. With the grid under pressure, "brownouts" are being written into contracts as excused delays.
- Cyber Warfare: If a state-sponsored actor wipes out your server, is that an "Act of War"? Lawyers are still arguing about this one in 2026.
How to Actually Protect Your Business
Stop copying and pasting from the internet. Honestly.
You need to tailor the language to your specific industry. If you’re in SaaS, you care about fiber optic cuts and AWS outages. If you’re in construction, you care about "unusually severe weather" and timber shortages.
You also need a "Notice Requirement."
I can’t tell you how many people lose their legal standing because they waited three weeks to tell their partner about a problem. Most contracts require you to give notice within 48 to 72 hours of the event occurring. If you miss that window, your force majeure claim is dead on arrival. It doesn't matter if a volcano erupted; if you didn't send the email on time, you're in breach.
Mitigation: You Still Have to Try
You can't just sit on your hands. Even if a legitimate "superior force" hits, you have a legal duty to mitigate the damages.
If your main supplier’s factory burns down, you are expected to look for a backup supplier. You might have to pay more. You might have to ship by air instead of sea. If you just stop working and wait for the "force majeure" to go away, a court will likely find that you didn't do enough to fulfill your end of the bargain.
The "So What?" for Your Next Contract
The goal of a force majeure clause isn't just to win a lawsuit; it's to prevent one. When both parties know exactly what happens if a hurricane hits or a war starts, they don't have to sue each other to find out who pays. They just follow the roadmap.
Don't let your lawyer use "boilerplate" language. Ask them: "What is the most likely thing to break our supply chain in the next two years, and is it named in this paragraph?" If the answer is "no," change the paragraph.
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Actionable Steps for Contract Management
- Audit Your Current Agreements: Pull out your top five most valuable contracts. Look for the "Term and Termination" or "Force Majeure" sections. Do they actually mention the risks you face in 2026?
- Check the Notice Periods: Highlight the exact number of days you have to notify the other party if things go wrong. Put a reminder in your project management software.
- Define "Majeure" Broadly but Specifically: Use a "including but not limited to" structure. Name your specific industry boogeymen (like "semiconductor shortages" or "port congestion") then add a broad catch-all for "events beyond reasonable control."
- Document Everything: If an event happens, start a log immediately. Save news articles, government decrees, and emails. You need a paper trail that proves the event was the sole reason you couldn't deliver.
- Review Insurance Coverage: Force majeure is a legal defense, not a check in the mail. If you want to get paid for the loss, you need Business Interruption Insurance that aligns with your contract's definitions.
The reality is that "superior forces" are becoming more common, not less. Whether it's a freak weather event or a sudden geopolitical shift, your contract needs to be a shield, not just a piece of paper. Take the time to get the language right before the storm actually hits.