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Moreover, defendants may claim that a plaintiff should not be entitled to the full measure of its lost profit even where the breach occurred before the onset of the pandemic by attempting to prove that the long-term effects of the pandemic will permanently impair future profitability. To be entitled to lost profits, the loss must have been caused by the underlying breach rather than some other cause or source of harm.[10] Lost profit damages will only be available to a plaintiff if that plaintiff can prove that the lost profits flowed consequentially from the claimed breach. The COVID-19 pandemic initially had a devastating impact on business worldwide, and franchised businesses and franchisors in the United States were not spared. For a claim that accrued during the pandemic, a plaintiff must articulate how the defendant's conduct caused a separate loss of profits distinct from the harms caused by the pandemic. [Extracted from the article]