Agency Contracts

Marketing Agency Contract Disputes

Scope-of-work, deliverable, and performance-representation disputes between clients and marketing agencies.

Overview

When the Contract and the Work Product Don't Match

Marketing agency contract disputes frequently involve a gap between what a statement of work described and what was actually delivered, or between the performance an agency represented during the sales process and what its own account data shows once litigation begins. Bill's role is to compare the two and explain the gap in concrete, technical terms.

Marketing services agreements are frequently drafted by the agency rather than negotiated line by line, which means the more important evidence in a dispute often lives outside the contract itself — in sales presentations, proposal decks, and email correspondence describing what results the client should expect.

Common Issues

Common Contract Dispute Issues

A handful of recurring issues account for most marketing agency contract disputes Bill is retained to evaluate.

  • Deliverables described in vague or aspirational language that resists objective measurement
  • Performance guarantees made during sales that are not supported by the agency's own reporting
  • Change orders and scope creep that were not properly documented or billed
  • Data and account ownership disputes following contract termination

In most of these matters, Bill's contribution is narrowly technical: establishing what the account data actually shows happened, and leaving the contract interpretation itself to counsel and the court.

Account ownership disputes following termination deserve particular attention, since a client that loses access to its own advertising or analytics accounts when an agency relationship ends can lose the very evidence it needs to support its claims, making early preservation requests an important practical step.

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