Contract disputes and how to avoid them
Friday 21st July 2023
11:15-12:15 p.m. BST
Jeremy Newton, Director, Codified Legal
What goes wrong and what can you do about it?
As a key account manager, you may not write the customer contract, but you will have to work and live with it. So shouldn’t you be involved in drafting it?
But do you really appreciate how contracts work? How often do you find yourself head-to-head with Legal? As an important stakeholder in the drafting and delivery of the contract, wouldn’t a better understanding make the whole process and the subsequent relationship run more smoothly?
Contracts go wrong for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes the problem is nothing to do with the contract paperwork: a supplier fails to deliver, or a customer refuses to pay, or a force majeure event (think Covid) makes fulfilment impossible. Often, though, the wording of the contract either causes or contributes to the problem. Common situations are lack of clarity in the payment arrangements, inadequate project planning, ambiguity in the technical specification of deliverables, and failure to think through the implications of possible breach and termination scenarios.
- Some common causes of contract disputes
- Sample clauses – what is ‘good’ drafting and what is ‘bad’?
- Getting the right starting point – your paperwork or mine?
- Boilerplate language – do we really need this stuff?
- Getting the most from your legal adviser
Jeremy Newton
Director at specialist law firm Codified Legal
Jeremy has worked in the field of information technology law and contracts for over 30 years, both in private practice and in-house. His experience includes advising supplier and customer organisations on their bids/procurements, from drafting and responding to RFPs through to the final rounds of contract negotiation and subsequent contract changes.
In this case-study based seminar, Jeremy Newton will use real-life examples from his 30 years in practice as a commercial lawyer to illustrate some of the most common causes of contract disputes and how to avoid them. Jeremy will discuss how the issues that gave rise to disputes – and the financial loss and reputational damage that followed – might have been avoided by clearer language. He will discuss examples of “good” and “bad” drafting and suggest some tips and techniques to help bring clarity and order to even the most impenetrable clauses.
Hosted by:
The Association for Key Account Management
For more information:
Email [email protected]
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