When God Appears in Contracts, That’s ‘Force Majeure’

The coronavirus crisis has given new relevance to the legal term “force majeure.” It’s a clause that can be found buried in many contracts that lets a party off the hook in the event of some unforeseen “act of God.” After much of the world’s economy temporarily shut down due to the pandemic, companies began invoking force majeure to reject supplies they say they don’t need or to get out of leases they say they can’t afford.

French for “superior force,” the phrase typically describes an unexpected, external event that makes it impossible for a party to fulfill its obligations under a contract. Force majeure clauses are a common feature of supply agreements and other business deals, and consumers will also find them in the fine print they agree to when they buy such things as plane tickets. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods are frequently specified as force majeure events. So are human activities such as war, political unrest, terrorist attacks and labor strikes.