Contract Legal Advice

Contract Legal Advice - Overview

We have accumulated significant experience, industry knowledge and expertise providing business contract legal advice. We advise on terms of contract, preparation of contractual documentation, and structuring legally binding agreements. Our drafting expertise is drawn in part from experience in disputes resolved by the Courts - we have seen what can happen when agreements are not drafted do not take into account a business's particular circumstances and requirements and specific risks.

Preparation of commercial contracts need not be expensive or time consuming. Our commercial contract lawyers are aware of what is likely to work well in different types of contracts. High value transactions however present greater risk to the parties and usually require greater investment and documentation to manage those risks. Invariably, the cost to properly document what has been agreed is greatly outweighed by the costs of failing to properly record the transaction and cater for the risks in the first instance. In the worst case, what would have been a good claim can present too much risk to obtain the desired remedies.

Contract Administration & Management

We are frequently requested to advise in relation to existing contractual agreements and the exercise of rights under those contracts including:

1. the effect of legal terms in force;
2. terms  which may be implied into contractual documentation, which do not appear on the face of the contract;
3. whether or not particular terms of the contract may be exercised, and what may be done to exercise those rights;
4. provide input and insights into parties' positions in negotiations to vary the terms of contracts;
5. terminate contracts for breach of contract; and
6. quantify damages arising by reason of a breach or repetition of breaches.

Legal advice such as this places our clients in an informed position to decide whether to adopt one course or another, and assists them to focus on the scope, extent and seriousness of legal disputes to formulate what action should be taken.

The most contentious of these is where a party alleges a right to terminate and threatens to or exercises that right. On the face of the contract the right may be there to exercise, however much of the law is invisible - simply because rights appear in black and white does not mean they are able to be exercised in the circumstances; in addition, rights may be implied into contracts. Interpreting the contractual documents by a hardened contract lawyer often gives results at great variance to an interpretation by one who does not deal with such documents regularly.

Legal Services

We provide a range of legal services to our clients, which include:

Contract Preparation and Structuring

• structuring contracts to be read and interpreted by businesses and business people, minimising unnecessary jargon;
• simplifying complex contractual arrangements in agreements for development projects and the supply of products and services,
• advising on the allocation of commercial risk to the appropriate party, with respect to warranties, indemnities and limitations of liability to be provided for in contracts;
• building project management regimes suitable for the company to play a part in contractual performance.

Contract Documentation

• advising on liability arising from technical specifications and integration with contractual obligations;
• advising on proper terms of contract including unlawful, unreasonable or unfair terms and conditions;
• restraints of trade, including the application and validity of post-employment obligations; and
• assistance in the preparation of schedules in outsourcing contracts, including service levels (or "SLAs"), service levels compensation advice.

Contractual Risk

• advising on the effect of performance obligations and failures to perform under agreements;
• advising on inherent and patent risks to be imposed by contracts under negotiation between intending contracting parties;
• interpretation of standard clauses, such as those dealing with waiver, entire agreement, dispute resolution, variations.

Contract Delivery Advice

• legal advice on administration of contracts, claims detection, including delay and defects in deliverables, claims negotiation, strategies to manage and resolve disputes;
• regulatory compliance and corporate compliance issues, trade practices, intellectual property rights, industrial relations and property law;
• commercial issues affecting the contract administration.

London Business Solicitors & Lawyers

Our Solicitors in London assist businesses in the UK and internationally to create options, achieve realistic and attainable goals, and providing guidance to assist decision-making in a commercial context.

For more information, legal advice or to find out more about the legal services we provide, call 020 7353 1770 or contact us online.