Wis JI-Civil 3044

Question _____ asks whether (defendant) breached the duty of good faith in

performing (his) (her) contract with (plaintiff).

Under Wisconsin law, the contract between (defendant) and (plaintiff) requires that

each party act in good faith towards the other party and deal fairly with that party when

(performing) (enforcing) (carrying out) the expressed terms of the contract. This requirement

to act in good faith is a part of the contract just as though the contract stated it.

In this case, the plaintiff claims defendant had an obligation to use good faith when

performing the following contractual term: (insert contractual term).

As to this term, (plaintiff) claims that (defendant) breached the contract's good faith

obligation by: (insert relevant conduct).

Whether the duty to act in good faith has been met in this case should be determined

by deciding what the contractual expectations of the parties were. Therefore, in deciding

whether the defendant breached the duty of good faith by (e.g., terminating the contract,

invoking the force majeure clause), you should determine the purpose of the agreement; that

is, the benefits the parties expected at the time the agreement was made.

This duty of good faith means that each party to a contract will not do something

which will have the effect of injuring or destroying the (rights) (ability) of the other party to

receive the benefits of the contract.

[A contracting party can breach the duty of good faith even if (he) (she) did not violate

any express term of the contract.]

[It is not a breach of the duty of good faith if a course of action available to (plaintiff)

could have avoided the harm and this course was not followed.]

SPECIAL VERDICT

Did (defendant) breach the duty of good faith in performing (his) (her) contract with

(plaintiff)?

Answer: ____________

Yes or No