Terminating Your Contract: Things to Remember Part 1
Contracts often have various provisions concerning when and how a party may terminate the contract. Typical termination provisions can cover situations in which the party terminates for cause or without cause. The distinction between the two types of termination clauses can be crucial to your contract rights and remedies. A provision governing termination without cause essentially gives one or both parties the right to terminate the contract for any reason, whether or not there has been a breach. Often called a “termination for convenience” clause, these provisions can have various effects on the practical terms of your deal, which you may want to consider when you’re drafting or negotiating your contract. For example, 1) If a termination without cause provision is going to be a part of your contract, consider how much notice you would like to have or give if you or the other party wants to terminate the contract without a breach. Things to consider would be how long it will take you to find another seller or service provider to fill in the void. 2) It is common for a service provider or seller to raise the price or quote a little bit in order to account for the fact that the other party may suddenly terminate the contract. Be aware of how the pricing structure works in your deal, and try to substantiate where the costs are attributed. 3) Consider your capital investment. Many times a termination without cause provision can expose you or the other party to losses resulting from a shorter contract period. If the contractual relationship is cut short early, the party may not have recovered their costs yet. Therefore, it is common to see some sort of cost recovery provision or penalty provision in the event a party terminates without cause. Stay tuned for more on termination for cause provisions. While there are many other issues to consider when you’re drafting termination provisions, these are just a few that you may want to keep in mind. You should always consult an attorney when you’re in the process of drafting and negotiating a...
Read MoreWhen Disasters Plague Your Contract
Part of the contract drafting process entails a bit of forward thinking: trying to identify and minimize ahead of time those things that could go wrong. If you’re new to the business world, or you’ve just entered into a new sector or started a new business, it can often be difficult to predict the downfalls your business may face– or the downfalls the other contracting party may face. There are some risks that every business must face which are more predictable than others. For example, every business at some point can expect to have an invoice dispute with a supplier, customer or independent contractor. On the other hand, there are those risks which are completely unpredictable and therefore less controllable. In the world of contracts, these risks are often called “force majeure events,” and well-drafted contracts usually contain a Force Majeure provision dealing with how such events will affect the parties’ respective obligations during the course of the contract. Force Majeure refers to acts of God and other events which are wholly outside of the control or influence of the party. Typical force majeure events include things like floods, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, riots, etc. While these events are pretty intuitive and it is hard to contest their occurrence being completely outside the control of the contracting party, there are some events, such as supplier bankruptcy and currency and market fluctuations which are less clear and which are often heavily negotiated. Force majeure provisions list the events which will constitute force majeure and set forth the parties’ respective obligations or release from obligations if the force majeure event occurs. For example, a force majeure provision may excuse a supplier from complying with a deadline or delivery date. As a startup company or entrepreneur, be cautious when you see a provision dealing with force majeure and, if you’re drafting an agreement, ask yourself how your contractual relationship may benefit from including a provision to help manage uncertainties. If you are interested in learning how to protect against risk, including force majeure risk, please contact an attorney or have an attorney review your agreement before you sign...
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