Blog

Be clear to avoid ambiguity

Although it was over 200 pages (with 30 pages of defined terms), given that it had been through 21 iterations and redrafts, you would have thought the lawyers would have ironed out all the wrinkles and resolved any drafting issues… or not! A contract relating to joint ventures and letters

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The letter of intent graveyard – clauses you don’t need

The City of London Law Society Standard Form of Letter of Intent combines four distinct categories: a record of the current state of negotiations on the intended ‘full’ contract a fall-back position if the full contract is never signed financial limits on the payer’s liability, and a simple contract for

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Sarah Fox

The Dotted Line: How do you actually do business?

Do you fail to plan the next steps once you’ve agreed a deal in principle? Even if you do (and congratulate yourself for having plans), just as in war: no plan survives first contact with the other side. Your processes for converting a sale or completing a deal need to reflect

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What you need to know about letters of intent

Bringing together my posts on letters of intent in one ‘executive summary’. When, how and whether you should use a letter of intent This post draws on advice from a judge about whether a letter of intent is wrong in principle; if not, when it is appropriate to use one;

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Sarah Fox

The Dotted Line: A misunderstanding

The art of communicating is not just about being understood, but about ensuring you cannot possibly be misunderstood. I once asked my older sister to bring crackers to contribute to Christmas lunch – she bought biscuits for cheese but I was expecting decorated tubes with a bang, hat, joke and

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The wider view of contracts

How many facets do you consider when changing your contracts or contracting process? At the very least, you need to consider branding, process and content (these are my three focus areas when delivering a speech). Jacqueline Horani spoke at the World Commerce and Contracting Vibe Summit 2023 about eleven aspects

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Can you suspend works or services?

If you don’t get paid or your client is in breach of contract, can you just stop work? It can be exceeedingly expensive to get this legal issue wrong! Stop or continue? Under English law, and assuming there is no express term or statutory provision* which allows suspension: the innocent

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Sarah Fox

The Dotted Line: Can I just…?

How many times are you about to seal a deal when someone pops up with ‘and if I can just get you to sign here, here and here…’ without even giving you a chance to read what you’re signing? Or you start work and find that your invoice can’t be

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Arm wrestle or bake off? Better ways to resolve disputes

In 1992, two C-Suite executives from US airlines took to the ring to wrestle out a dispute about trade marks. More than a quarter of a century later, what can companies learn from this? 3 key lessons The first lesson is about deciding a strategy. This wasn’t really about the

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Create a clear payment process

Money… in the form of late, incomplete or missed payments is one of the biggest causes of dispute (World Commerce and Contracting Most Negotiated Terms Report 2022). It is critical that both parties to a deal know: when, to which individual and in what format the supplier must apply for

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