Understanding and Drafting Legal Agreements

Introduction

To those unfamiliar with legal language, reading a contract can be daunting. The legal documents may be littered with words and phrases that have an obscure meaning or – even worse – appear to have a different meaning from their everyday usage.

Yet many of us do need to get to grips with what commercial contracts are all about. We tick a box on a screen, every time we make an online purchase, “accepting the terms and conditions” that apply to the transaction. But we may have no idea what we are agreeing to. Too often, contracts seem to be written for a special group of informed people, while everyone else just assumes that things will work out ok.

This training programme addresses the obscurity of common contractual words and phrases and interprets the legal issues that sit behind them. By building an understanding of what commercial contracts mean and how they work, the training will help participants to develop better draft contractual documents and to improve the outcomes from the contracts the company signs.

Programme Objectives 

This Understanding and Drafting Legal Agreementstwo-day programme is intended to open the eyes of managers and staff to the most significant words, phrases and common issues in a contract. Drawing on material from standard contracts that are used the training will help attendees get become familiar with:

• The meaning of words and phrases commonly used in contracts, such as warranty, representation, covenant, term and condition
• What well drafted contracts look like, and how to recognise (and improve) a badly drafted legal agreement
• The buried risks within contracts, concealed within clauses that exclude or limit liability, or that transfer liability from one party to another
• “Boilerplate clauses” that are often ignored, but which can work against the interests of your company
• Foreign legal language that can creep into a discussion of contractual issues

This Understanding and Drafting Legal Agreementsonline training course aims to enable  managers and staff to achieve the following objectives:

• Learn how to get to grips with contractual words and phrases
• Recognise the potential for risk from the contracts they are making
• Develop defences against future contractual claims for liability
• Improve their own contract drafting skills
• Improve draft contract documents
• Provide better outcomes from contracts

Training Methodology

The Understanding and Drafting Legal Agreementstraining course has been developed for use with an appropriate online platform such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. It could easily be adapted for a classroom setting.

The course will be lively, participative and interactive: Depending on the choice of platform, the trainer will facilitate group discussions, screen sharing of materials, online chat sessions and many other online techniques. Participants will have the opportunity to see and communicate with the instructor and the other delegates. The course will use a variety of e-Learning methods, including include online tests and exercises, case studies, group discussions and presentations plus Q&A. Participants will receive feedback on their performance. The learning experience will be supported by training materials containing model documents and templates.

Target Audience 

This course is aimed at anyone who works with commercial contracts but who needs a refresher in understanding contractual language and issues, or who is coming across commercial contracts for the first time.

This could include:

• Commercial staff who are drafting or amending contracts
• Contracts Engineers
• Contracts Administration staff
• Contract Analysts
• Procurement executives and other purchasing department members
• Project Managers and Coordinators
• Specifiers and Buyers
• Customer Service teams

Programme Outline

Day 1 – What are the Legal Issues behind Contract language?

• Getting to grips with a commercial contract
• What contracts are seeking to achieve
• The building blocks on which most contracts are constructed
o Who does what, when and how?
o When will payment occur?
o What happens when things go wrong?
• Identifying and understanding typical terms and conditions that manage risk, including
o Warranties
o Liabilities
o Loss and damage
o Exclusion clauses
o Indemnities
o Insurance
o Payment
o Liquidated Damages
o Force Majeure

Day 2 – Commercial Contract drafting tips and traps

• Possible contract structures
• Using model contract forms / templates
• Using appropriate drafting style and language
• How to improve a contract draft
• Working with a counterparty’s ‘boilerplate’ standard terms and conditions
• Focusing on priority areas of risk

Duration:2 Days

Cost:£595 + Vat

Online Contract Legal Agreements Training Course

Virtual Contract Legal Agreements Training Course

Contract Legal Agreements Online Training Course

Contract Legal Agreements Virtual Training Course