During the pandemic, the reach of force majeure clauses and related common law doctrines has been tested nationwide, and the results have been decidedly mixed.

In one recent decision, Huth v. American Institute for Foreign Study Inc.,[1] the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut found in March that the defendant's performance was excused pursuant to "clear and unambiguous" contractual language that "contemplated not only a force majeure event, but an actual pandemic itself."

But force majeure clauses are rarely that clear, and the resultant path to relief is rarely that smooth.

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