Alaska Civil Pattern Jury Instruction 24.06

[Plaintiff] claims that [defendant] breached the contract by failing to pay the [full] amount due under the contract. [Defendant] denies that [he she it] is required to [pay plaintiff] [make any further payment to [plaintiff], because [plaintiff] did not fully perform [his her its] obligations under the contract.

In this situation, the law requires you to determine whether [plaintiff] substantially performed [his her its] obligations under the contract. If [plaintiff] did not substantially perform [his her its] obligations under the contract, [plaintiff] is not entitled to [any further] payment from [defendant]. On the other hand, if [plaintiff] substantially performed its obligations under the contract, [defendant] must pay [plaintiff] the amount that is due under the contract, reduced by an amount to reflect any deficiencies in [plaintiff’s] performance of its obligations.

In order to determine whether [plaintiff] substantially performed [his her its] obligations under the contract, you must consider and weigh the following factors:

(1) The nature of the performance that was promised;

(2) The purpose that the contract was meant to serve;

(3) The extent to which any nonperformance by [plaintiff] defeated the purposes or ends that were meant to be achieved by the contract, and deprived [defendant] of the benefits that it reasonably expected to receive under the contract; and

(4) Whether [plaintiff’s] failure to fully perform [his her its] obligations under the contract violated [alt: was consistent with] the standards of good faith and fair dealing.

If you decide that [plaintiff] substantially performed [his her its] obligations under the contract, you will need to determine the amount of any payment that is owed by [defendant]. I will instruct you on how to determine this amount.

If you decide that [plaintiff] did not substantially perform [his her its] obligations under the contract, then your verdict on this claim must be for [defendant].