It’s easier to learn from the mistakes of others so let me tell you about one of the worst works contracts I’ve ever reviewed. Although just over 6,000 words (10 pages) long, the building contract was incredibly one-sided because of these terms: A right for the client to cancel the
Contracting needs to be customer-centric, technology-friendly and process-conscious to succeed in the current tech age. Customer-centric Customer-centric contracts are ones which are simple to read, understand and use, and provided as part of a simple, clear process to convert a prospect into a raving fan! We all know the frustrations
Even without recessions, pandemics and a ‘cost of running a business’ crisis, not everyone can afford to invest in the legal documents to support their business. However, there are five issues to avoid with writing or using contracts. Copying content If you copy and paste your contract content (irrespective of
To paraphrase William Shakespeare (the Bard): “If contracts be the food of love, play on. Give me excess clauses that, surfeiting, The appetite for jargon may sicken and so die. That Latin phrase, it had a dying fall… O contract spirit, how mean-spirited art thou, That, notwithstanding thy word-smithery Is
Studies estimate that the vast majority – 70% – of friction points occur before your contract is signed (Deloitte article)… assuming it is ever signed! Why does this matter? It means a company is losing money, losing customers, and burdened with unnecessary admin during the contracting process. Streamlining contracting can
What do you think the next decade holds in terms of how we write, create, review, negotiate and sign business deals (or contracts)? In my 2020 survey, the three most likely items to impact contracting as a process were: Machine learning (ML) ie giving computers ‘the ability to learn without
When it comes to certainty there are two hurdles for a contract to overcome: Is there enough certainty on essential terms for there to be a binding contract in law? If there is a contract, are all the terms certain enough for the court to interpret and enforce them? This
One of the most common misconceptions I come across, when delivering contract awareness training to consultants or contractors, is the belief that an insurance policy limits your liability to your clients. It doesn’t. Insurance is merely an asset against which your clients could bring a claim. The impact of the
As you know, I am a big fan of contracts being tools to enhance trust. This post is inspired by Episode 98 of The Hearing (a legal podcast) on Trust and Scepticism for Lawyers, featuring Dr Larry Richard, Ann Rainhart and Michael Callier. What is trust? Dr Larry Richard says
Following on from last year’s report, the HKA Crux Insight Report 2022 Battling the Headwinds has again reviewed claims and disputes on global construction projects. Changes in scope (the #1 cause of disputes) might be an unavoidable side-effect of major construction projects, but the #3 cause of disputes is contract