What should I do first in a California business dispute?

Read the contract before anything else — notice-and-cure clauses, arbitration, fee-shifting, and shortened limitation periods change every next move. Then preserve the record: suspend document destruction, save emails and texts, and gather invoices and payment history. Destroying evidence risks discovery sanctions under Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.030.

The contract is the map. Before sending anything, check it for notice-and-cure provisions that must be satisfied before claims accrue, mediation or escalation prerequisites, an arbitration clause, a venue selection, an attorney fee clause, and any contractually shortened limitation period — all of which change strategy. Next, preserve evidence: institute a litigation hold suspending automatic deletion for everyone involved, and collect the correspondence, invoices, deliverables, and payment history that establish the chronology; destruction of relevant material invites evidence and monetary sanctions under Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.030. Keep new communications professional and factual, because every email becomes an exhibit. Build a damages picture early — what was lost, and what mitigation is possible — since mitigation is expected. A well-framed demand letter citing the breach and invoking cure rights resolves many disputes without a filing. Watch the clocks: four years on a written contract (section 337), two on an oral one, three from discovery for fraud (section 338(d)). Tender to any insurer whose policy might respond.

Authority: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2023.030