Good advice when creating contracts:
You can draft a contract with the aim of making it either fool-proof (by drafting it in simple terms) or rogue-proof (by drafting complex, detailed terms), but not both
This comes from a speech from Max Abrahamson, whose principles of risk management in construction contracts I often ... Read More
12
Sep2017
22
Aug2017
In Verity White's Secrets of Productive Contracts she says:
The easier your contract is to read, the more trustworthy you and your company seem
But is it true?
Where's the evidence?
My contract tips [sign up] have reviewed some of the issues:
Easier to read = easier to use
'People are more likely ... Read More
08
Aug2017
I love the idea that we could create contracts that ordinary people will read, understand and use.
Verity White's Secret of Productive Contracts is another step in the right direction. Verity's focus is on paperless contracts to speed up the contracting process.
I was both delighted and a little bemused when I ... Read More
01
Aug2017
According to Stephen MR Covey, in the Speed of Trust:
Trust is a function of two things: character and competence. Character includes your integrity, your motive, your intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, your results, your track record.
My top tip for 2017 (19 Jan) is to ... Read More
20
Jun2017
Most consultant appointments allow a licence for your client to use your drawings and designs for the Project for which you created them; and if your client uses them for other purposes then you are not liable for such use.
How 'the Project' is defined will affect how your client can ... Read More
13
Jun2017
In a series of articles for journals and LinkedIn, I have outlined my view of contracting as a process, rather than treating contracts as stand-alone documents and their creation as drive-by events.
A contract process maturity model
This is a tool designed to refine this idea and future-proof your contracting [read ... Read More
18
Apr2017
What is a watertight contract? In my view it is like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow - we'd all like it to exist, but it doesn't. Recent examples like Pimlico plumbers, Uber and Oakhurst diary have shown how so-called watertight contracts have been leaking at ... Read More
21
Feb2017
Alan Sugar once said:
I have always been an honest trader. I come from a school of traders where there was honour in the deal. No contracts, just a handshake and that's it, done. That's the way I prefer to do business...
Can You Contract with a Handshake? looked ... Read More
05
Jan2017
Happy New Year!
Despite all the lose-weight, sleep-better, become-awesome resolutions currently being made which will quietly be forgotten in 6 weeks or so, there is one resolution you really can keep: to make sure your contracts help you do business in 2017. To help you meet that goal, I am sharing ... Read More
03
Jan2017
Although you cannot avoid mandatory legislative requirements, such as the right to suspend or claim interest for late payments, some unscrupulous payers include unenforceable conditions, perhaps hoping the other does not know the law?!
Another vexatious approach is to make compliance with a legal right almost impossibly tricky, ... Read More