When COVID-19 spread in 2020, border closures, travel restrictions, quarantines and shutdowns hit buyers and suppliers at the same time. Organizations suddenly needed to know which contracts were affected, what those contracts said about events outside anyone's control, and what they had to do, and by when, to protect their position.
Many could not answer quickly because their contracts were scattered and their obligations untracked. This post was first written during the pandemic. It has been refreshed for 2026 as a playbook for any major disruption, whether a pandemic, a conflict, a cyber incident, sanctions or a natural disaster. The steps are the same.
Why disruption is a contract problem
A major disruption affects both sides of the business. Suppliers cannot deliver, customers cannot take delivery or pay, and service levels become impossible to meet. Every one of those situations is governed by a contract, and the outcome depends on what the contract says and whether the parties follow its procedures.
A disciplined review of affected contracts helps limit loss, protect the business and keep operations running. It also shows where to renegotiate before the other party does.
Step 1: identify the affected contracts
Start with the highest risk areas, usually key direct suppliers, critical service providers and large customer contracts. Within those, assess whether you could switch suppliers or shift volume to reduce supply risk. This is where a central, searchable repository pays off: filtering by supplier, region, category or contract value narrows the list in minutes instead of weeks.
Without a repository, teams end up emailing business owners to ask what contracts they hold, which is slow and incomplete exactly when speed matters.
Step 2: find and track the relevant provisions
Relevant clauses vary by industry, relationship and contract type, but a core set comes up in almost every disruption.
| Provision | What to check |
|---|---|
| Force majeure | Which events are covered, whether pandemics or government action are named, and what relief applies |
| Notice requirements | How and when the affected party must notify, and to whom |
| Service levels and remedies | Whether credits or penalties are suspended during the event |
| Termination rights | Whether a prolonged event allows either side to end the contract |
| Change and price adjustment | Whether scope, schedule or price can be adjusted |
| Governing law | Whether local doctrines such as frustration or impossibility might apply |
| Insurance and business continuity | What the counterparty must maintain and demonstrate |
AI search and extraction can pull these clauses from every affected contract into one comparison, so legal can see the variety of wording at a glance. Read more about force majeure and other clauses in a clause library.
Step 3: determine applicability and enforceability
Not every force majeure clause covers every disruption, and not every party that invokes one is entitled to relief. Legal must consider whether the event falls within the clause, whether it actually prevented performance, whether the party tried to mitigate, and whether notice was given as required. Governing law matters, because courts in different jurisdictions treat these questions differently.
Notice deadlines are the most time sensitive element. A party that misses a notice requirement may lose relief it was otherwise entitled to. Each notice obligation should have an owner and a date as soon as it is identified.
Step 4: renegotiate and act
Based on the review, decide what to do with each contract. Options include invoking force majeure, agreeing a temporary suspension or revised schedule, renegotiating price or scope, moving volume to alternative suppliers, or terminating where the contract allows. Document every agreed change as a formal amendment attached to the original contract.
- Prioritize by business impact and by deadline
- Keep communication with counterparties written and consistent
- Record each decision and its reasons
- Track new obligations created by any revised terms
Lessons for contracts signed since
The pandemic changed how many organizations draft disruption terms. Force majeure clauses now more often name epidemics, government orders and cyber events explicitly, set out notice steps in detail and say what happens if an event lasts beyond a set period. Business continuity and exit plans are more often required, and in some sectors, such as financial services under the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act, regulators expect them for critical providers.
Updating templates and the clause library to reflect these lessons means the next disruption starts from a stronger position.
Prepare before the next disruption
The organizations that coped best with the pandemic were not the ones with the cleverest lawyers. They were the ones that already knew what their contracts said. Preparation is mostly ordinary contract hygiene.
- Keep every active contract in one searchable repository with consistent metadata
- Tag critical suppliers and customers so they can be filtered instantly
- Extract disruption related clauses, such as force majeure, notice and termination, in advance
- Agree who decides, and who communicates with counterparties, before an event starts
- Run a tabletop exercise once a year using a realistic scenario
With that groundwork, the first day of a disruption is spent deciding what to do, not searching for documents.
How Obligationflow helps
Obligationflow uses AI search and extraction to find obligations such as notice requirements, service levels and continuity duties across the portfolio, assigns each to an owner through a digital workflow and gives leaders full visibility of status. In a disruption, that means the affected contracts, the relevant clauses and the deadlines are visible on day one. A person confirms every extracted obligation before it is tracked.
The bottom line
Disruptions will keep coming in different forms. Organizations that know their contracts, track their obligations and have clear disruption terms can respond in days rather than months. Build that capability before you need it.