Are you guilty of fixing plans too early? My in-laws’ plans for a quiet wedding in 1966 needed a tweak when England made it into the World Cup Final on their wedding day. Do you really think we can predict the future and, if not, do we have contracts that are flexible enough to stay
How patient are you? Frankly, I am not sure if my home was in chaos and my son was about to sit important exams, that I’d be very patient at all! But that doesn’t mean I would be contractually ‘in the right’. This lesson comes from a relatively simple refurbishment
I am a turkey voting for Christmas – my goal is to make myself redundant! Although my whole business is based on contracts (talks, workshops, consultancy), ultimately I want contract users to have the tools and skills to create, adapt, negotiate and complete their contracts withoutneeding my help. Read the
Creating a contract on a standard form is relatively straightforward… isn’t it? Ms Wild bought a 1970s house in Cheshire and wanted to renovate it. Her professional drawn up specification envisaged that any contract would be on the RIBA Domestic Building Contract 2014 (a relatively short and simple building contract).
This week my eldest son is 21. Back in 2000, we couldn’t record his every move as no-one owned a camera phone, we couldn’t share his image with relatives across the world as Facebook hadn’t been dreamt up, we couldn’t press play to sing him a lullaby wherever we were
The problem with being too focused on the deal, is that sometimes you don’t record what you think you have both agreed. In Donovan v Grainmarket (2021), the Court of Appeal said: the task of deciding what the parties had agreed was not easy [as] the parties’ contract was not
What is a performance bond? Despite its name, a performance bond doesn’t guarantee performance – the surety promises to pay up to a specific sum for some sort of contractor breach provided the employer gives it enough evidence. If you’d like an analogy, think of them as a type of
Any contract – whatever its subject, however long it is, whether paper-based, digital or verbal – can have terms added to by either legislation, custom or by case law. These additions are called implied terms. This post summarises a recent Court of Appeal decision which clarified when/how the courts can
Contracts have a wide variety of functions, but one which is too often overlooked is their role as a communication tool. For that they need to be accurate, legally sound and enhance trust. Communicating trust Trust is a many-faceted word, combining concepts of integrity, intent, capabilities and results (or, as
You may not have to give life or death information, but clear language can ensure your message is heard, understood and can be immediately actioned. Read the full edition here Which are the worst contracts for ambiguity? Find out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwJHMcpHckc&feature=youtu.be
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