It is important to have legal contracts in place to protect your business, your clients, and your interests. In the event the other party fails to uphold their contractual obligations, you will rely on the written agreement to seek legal remedies. Contracts should be used to your advantage. Simply using basic contract standards and off-the-shelf template language, without tailoring them (or asking the other party to change their language), is often not in your best interests.
Every business should create their own custom contract templates that can be edited for each situation. These templates should include consistent language that has been developed specifically for the organization, for use with clients and third-party service providers. This gives the business an opportunity to craft language that protects their interests. The other party may still negotiate changes before signing, but by starting with language tailored to your firm or company, you are in control of where those negotiations begin.
These contract drafting tips can help protect your legal interests:
- Include pricing, payment terms, and penalties for noncompliance in clear, unambiguous language.
- Warranties about the services or products you are agreeing to provide under the contract should have clear specifications that meet predetermined standards.
- Include “force majeur” language for unforeseen events. This language allows you to suspend your performance of the contract if circumstances beyond your control make it impossible, impractical, illegal, or inadvisable to continue.
- Consider including an arbitration or mediation clause, which would require contract disputes to go through alternate dispute resolution procedures rather than through the court system.
- Tailor the choice of law provision to require judicial disputes to be settled in the courts in your country and state, in order to minimize costs.
And remember that your contract could be deemed unenforceable if you include provisions that are unfair.
If you need to start with contract standards that are provided by clients or vendors, then you should analyze the language in those contracts carefully, comparing their provisions to your standard language and identifying any material differences.
The skilled legal professionals at Baer Reed are adept at analyzing and reviewing contracts, helping clients understand their obligations and rights. To learn more about contract analysis and the other services we offer, contact us online today, or call (888) 433-1990.
Mr. Reyes graduated with honors from the Ateneo de Manila University, where he received the Procter and Gamble Student Excellence Award. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila School of Law. During law school, Mr. Reyes was part of the Philippine delegation to the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot held in Vienna, Austria. He was also a member of the Ateneo Society of International Law and the St. Thomas More Debate Society. He completed his internship at the Public Attorney’s Office. He wrote a thesis entitled: “To Kill A White Elephant: An Analysis of the Fiduciary Exception to the Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege”. Mr. Reyes is admitted to practice law in the Philippines and the State of New York.
Ms. Lardizabal-Manzano is a graduate of San Sebastian College-Recoletos, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science. In 2003, she received her law degree from Lyceum of the Philippines and was admitted to practice law in 2004.
Matthew Hersh earned a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University in 1990 and graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999. He also holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Cap. Avi Levak (Res. IDF) graduated from from Israel’s prestigious Ben-Gurion University of the Negev with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics. He is also a Leadership and Communication coach trained in TuT coaching by Alon gal in Israel. Avi specializes in high-level, in-depth analysis of business and client needs, within systems and software strategy and architecture.
Ms. Tyler graduated cum laude from Georgetown University and received her law degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. During law school, she interned at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. She also worked on The Tax Lawyer journal and was a member of the award-winning Barristers’ Council Mock Trial Team. Ms. Tyler is admitted to practice law in the State of California and the District of Columbia.
Ms. Cruz-Anonuevo graduated cum laude and top nine in her batch from Miriam College with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in InternationalStudies. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in Rockwell. During law school, she interned in Rivera, Santos, Maranan & Associates. She was also part of Ateneo’s Labor Law Bar Operations. She wrote her thesis on, “Stealing Privacy: Limitations on Media’s Photographic Invasion.,” Ms. Cruz-Anonuevo is admitted to practice law in the Philippines.
Ms. Aquino-Batallones obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Development Studies (with Minors in Global Politics and Hispanic Studies) from the Ateneo de Manila University. In 2011, she received her Juris Doctor degree from Ateneo de Manila University School of Law. During law school, she interned at Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & de los Angeles then became an intern of Ateneo Legal Services Center’s Clinical Legal Education Program.
Mr. De Guzman graduated from San Beda College with a degree of Bachelor of Arts Major in Economics and received his law degree from San Beda College of Law. He is multilingual and is fluent in three languages: Chinese, Filipino, and English. He was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2003.