Business and Contract Law

Date	21-22 Sep 2010
Venue	Charing Cross Hotel · Please contact us for help with booking accommodation
Price	EUR 1249.00 / GBP 999.00 (+VAT @ 17.50)% Members of our Training Partnership scheme pay EUR 625.00 / GBP 499.00 (+VAT @ 17.50%)
Get	Course brochure [402kb]
Book	Book now online or learn about other ways of booking

Date	2-3 Dec 2010
Venue	ETC - The Hatton · Please contact us for help with booking accommodation
Price	EUR 1249.00 / GBP 999.00 (+VAT @ 17.50)% Members of our Training Partnership scheme pay EUR 625.00 / GBP 499.00 (+VAT @ 17.50%)
Get	Course brochure [1.16mb]
Book	Book now online or learn about other ways of booking

Date	15 Mar 2011
Venue	Venue to be confirmed. · Please contact us for help with booking accommodation
Price	EUR 1249.00 / GBP 999.00 (+VAT @ 17.50)% Members of our Training Partnership scheme pay EUR 625.00 / GBP 499.00 (+VAT @ 17.50%)
Book	Book now online or learn about other ways of booking

Course overview

The law and regulations governing business and contract law are increasingly complex and now affect all industries and every type of commercial agreement; from entering into a contract, to validity of purchase conditions. If you are involved in commercial contracting or dealing with external parties at any level, you need to grasp the practical legal implications of these relationships to ensure you do not expose your organisation to unnecessary risk.

Additionally you need to protect your company from litigation and anticipate legal pitfalls.

This programme combines up-to-date commercial law with practical methods of translating this law into documentation. It identifies and analyses the different types of contract and how they are affected by the various statutes, ensuring that you fully grasp the impact of current legislation and case law.

This seminar is designed to offer a comprehensive and practical introduction to business contract law for non-lawyers. After two days, attendees will have gained the necessary knowledge to enable them to recognise and deal confidently with the risks and benefits of commercial contracts.

Featuring practical drafting workshops

The programme also includes two hands-on drafting exercises when participants will have an opportunity to practice their newly acquired drafting skills together with a workshop session on boilerplate clauses.

Why you should attend?

By attending this seminar, you will:

• Gain practical experience of effective contract negotiation
• Grasp the main issues impacting the early phase of offer and acceptance
• Learn how to create a formal contract
• Understand the legal background to common contract terms
• Identify and understand the role of payment and performance obligations
• Discover how to limit risk and identify the areas of potential claims
• Examine ways to skilfully avoid disputes
• Determine how to deal with and make defences to breach of contract
• Get-to-grips with EU competition law and its impact on business contracts
• Study some typical business agreements

Who should attend?

• Contract managers and engineers
• Commercial managers
• Sales and marketing managers
• Project managers

And all those involved in the negotiation, drafting and management of commercial business contracts

Programme - Day 1

Effective contract negotiation

• Preparing for negotiation
• Developing winning strategies
• Understanding the rules negotiation and culture
• Improving your communication skills
• Mapping routes to agreement

Offer and acceptance

• Defining the number of offers that can be on the table at any time
• Understanding what is a counter offer
• Examining what constitutes acceptance

Tools, techniques and terminology when creating a formal contract

• Informal contracts
• Standard terms
• Letters of intent
• Memorandum of Understanding
• Enforceable contracts

Getting to grips with how the law changes what you thought you had agreed to

• What are implied terms and where do you use them
• Working within government restrictions
• What is good faith and making it benefit your organisation
• Misrepresentation
• International convention

Understanding and effective drafting payment obligations

• Advance/stage payments
• Retention monies
• The role of bonds
• Credit insurance
• Letters of credit

Including constructive performance obligations

• Specific performance
• Condition precedents
• Delivery
• Force majeure
• The Doctrine of Frustration

Implications of law and regulations for international agreements

• Incoterms
• Personnel
• Price and payment terms
• Disputes
• Exporting

When things go wrong – Limit contractual risk for your organisation

• Identifying the areas of potential claims
• Examining claims in contract
• Examining claims in tort
• What are the claims under other headings
• Insurance

PRACTICAL DRAFTING EXERCISE
In this session participants will draft contract terms based on the skills and knowledge developed during the day under the guidance of experts

Programme - Day 2

Making defences to breach of contract

• Misrepresentation
• Duress
• Mistake
• Negligent misstatement

Termination – Understanding how and when contracts end

• Duration
• Liquidation
• Change of control

Successfully resolving contractual disputes

• Drafting key provisions to minimise the risk of disputes
• ADR clauses
• Arbitration – institutional or ad hoc

The impact of EU competition law

• What the rules say
• Prohibited agreements
• Areas to watch – pricing; quantity restriction
• Market sharing; public procurement rules; joint buying & selling
• When the rules apply – De Minimis
• Horizontal and vertical agreements
• The role of the Block Exemptions

PRACTICAL DRAFTING EXERCISE
In this session participants will practice drafting contract terms and practical receive advise and guidance of how they can develop in this area.

Some typical agreements
This session will review the terms and conditions of some typical agreements to illustrate how to avoid the legal pitfalls and challenges faced

• Service
• Supply
• Manufacture
• Licensing

PRACTICAL WORKSHOP: Drafting and understanding boilerplate clauses

• General provisions
• Confidentiality
• Costs
• Assignment
• Notices
• Law of the contract

The expert presenter

Programme Leader

Arun Singh (PROF) OBE, FRSA is an international lawyer and consultant to an international law firm. He was formerly a partner and Head of Commercial Law at KPMGLegal. Arun is cited and ranked in Chambers Guide of the World’s Leading Lawyers. He concentrates on international investment, joint ventures, licensing of technology, research and development, M&A, energy, outsourcing and corporate governance in developed and emerging markets. He also handles international legal risk management matters. Arun advises a range of international organisations. He is a Visiting Professor in International Business, Leadership and Negotiations at Salford University Business School, Senior Associate at Oxford University’s Institute of Legal Practice and teaches international leadership and negotiations at the University of Cambridge. He has facilitated programmes in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the U.S and has worked with clients such as BA, BP, CMSLegal, Orange, Diageo, KPMG, Motorola. He was appointed an OBE by HM the Queen in January 1999 for services to international trade, investment and intercultural management. Arun is an editor and contributor to a number of publications, including Thorogood’s Special Report on Business and Contract Law, facilitator for company programmes and corporate speaker to conferences.

Expert Presenter

Veronica Roberts is a partner and solicitor-advocate in the London office of Herbert Smith LLP specialising in EU and UK competition law. Veronica is based in the London office, having previously worked in the firm’s Brussels office for eight years. She regularly deals with the OFT, Ofcom, the Competition Commission and the European Commission, on behalf of companies under investigation and complainants. She also has experience of antitrust litigation, before both the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the European Court of First Instance.

Past delegates’ comments

Some of the comments received by participants on this course:

“Completely relevant”

Daryl D Rees, Phytopharm plc

“I liked the negotiation and forming of contracts”

Matthew Lakelin, Penn Pharmaceuticals ltd

“Excellent presenters, good pace, worth the money and time”

David McKane, Equity Insurance Group

“Very well presented, entertaining and informative. Arun is very adept at citing relevant examples and cases and how they impact your realtime business”

David Pegg, Rotork Controls Ltd

“The course was informative and enjoyable and was pitched at the right level for people from a non-legal background”

Aidan Walsh, Taysec Constructions Ltd

“A very worthwhile course and time well spent”

Stephen Gill, City Information Services Ltd

“Speakers depth of knowledge was impressive”

George Hawkes-Pippen, Nexor Ltd

“I liked the examples given and discussion”

Stephen Moore, Motorola

“Excellent speakers”

Lance Read, Avery Weigh-tronix

“I found the course and the programme very interesting and useful experience for my future work. I will definitely keep an eye on your courses in the future”

Frank Siebert, Claudius Peters Projects GmbH

“Interesting and extremely relevant to my role. Seminar met it’s objectives and my expectations”

Neil Burrows, Hi-Q

“I found the course to be excellent and informative while covering a variety of subjects relevant to me”

Nigel Biggs, Nomura Asset Management UK Ltd

“Arun’s presentation style and anecdotal experiences enriched the course for me”

Lisa Smith, NUKEM Ltd

You might also be interested in...

Delegates who attended this course also went on the following courses:

Client portfolio

Our client portfolio for this course includes the following companies:

1Spatial Group Ltd	Gusto BV	SEAMS Ltd
Abbott Diagnostics	HBO Holding Zrt	Shaws of Darwen
Amerosia Interline GmbH	Hall & Watts Defence Optics Ltd	St Regis Paper Company Ltd
Aon Ltd	Hutchinson Ports UK Ltd	Statens Serum Institut
BAE Systems Plc	INDENA SPA	Statoil Hovedkontor Norway
Babcock Defence Services	International Paint Ltd	Taysec Construction Ltd
Barratt Development Plc	InterserveFM	Tengizchevroil LLP
Beckman Coulter UK Ltd	Jinlarco Ventures	The States of Guernsey
Cambridge Consultants Ltd	KLM UK Engineering Ltd	Transdev Ltd
Chevron Munaigas Inc	MOL Nyrt	UBS
Claudius Peters Projects GmbH	Motorola	VEN Management Ltd
DESQ LTD	National Employer Service	Vaisala Oyj
Dalkia plc	Nova Laboratories Ltd	Wabtec Rail Ltd
Electricity Northwest Ltd	Nuclear Power Plant KRSKO	Wembley (London) Ltd
FMC Corporation UK Ltd	Philips Lighting (UK) Ltd	Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc
Forestry Commision	R&D Directorate NHS Grampian	Xchanging HR Services
Good Energy Ltd	Rotork Controls Ltd	buyat

Do you have a team of contract, procurement or project managers who are facing unique challenges in managing your organisations contracts?

Challenges translate to risk and in today’s environment of bespoke and standard contracts these risks can be mitigated with an understanding of the practical legal implications of a contract which can benefit both the Client and Supplier. Falconbury deliver business and contract law programmes In-House for a number of organisations in the UK and Europe. By focusing on Your Contracts terms and conditions we can tailor the course to your needs.

For more information call Caroline Glen on +44 (0)20 7729 6677 or visit our contact page and we will get back to you immediately.