to receive a Complimentary, No Obligation Consultation with a legal services specialist.
We specialise in
Prices start at £90.00
We offer a Free 30 minute contract law consultation
Telephone us on
0333 121 0161
between 09.00 - 18.00 Monday to Friday
Surrey Office
Office Suite 1
LFC Ltd
Fetcham Grove
Guildford Road
Leatherhead
Surrey, KT22 9AS
Dorset Office
Office1, 60 The Esplanade
Weymouth,
Dorset, DT4 8DE
Contract Review and Checking Service from £90.00
Fixed cost contract checking and contract review service covering contracts, terms and conditions, leases and business agreements. We check your legal documents/agreements to ensure there are no liabilities or costs at a later date.
We also redraft clauses for those businesses that wish to use the free and low cost contract template services available on the internet to obtain low price contracts for use in businesses.
We add value and legal expertise to those businesses that look to these services and contract templates.
Where you are already using template documents or have never checked a contract or agreement we can ensure they are legally compliant. We also advise on alignment with your ways of working so any document checked by us is less likely to fail when tested.
It is critical for any Company, no matter what sector of industry, to have suitable contracts, agreements or terms and conditions (“Agreements”) in place. Many disputes that lead to non payment and debt issues are caused by poorly drafted clauses, poor ways of working, unsustainable delivery mechanisms (including ambiguous payment terms), and poor or non-existent disputes procedures. Often disputes procedures cost more than the value of the contract and the most valued commodity - time.
We have come to learn that effectively drafted Agreements can enable your business to preclude poor payments and the disputes that lead to poor payment situations.
Prevention is better than cure and once we have recovered a debt for a client many of them use our affordable fixed cost contract checking and contract review service on a regular basis.
Please call 0333 121 0161 for a free no obligation discussion about our contract review and checking service; or
visit our contact page and we will get back to you the same day.
Our specialists have many years of experience in checking contracts and terms and conditions and drafting agreements across the globe.
Basic common sense tells you that you wouldn’t sign a contract without reading it first, although the fact that many people do is pretty
shocking. It is established law that if you sign something you are responsible for it, so any signed contract, agreement or terms and conditions can have significant implications for the future
of your business. As such all documents should be checked carefully so that you aren't exposed to substantial risk. This is where all businesses should turn to contract reviews.
A contract review is a contractual process used to identify and analyse the key provisions within any agreement. Our process with a contract review is to read it thoroughly to understand the terms
and conditions, and we highlight and risk, liabilities and set out the relevant points of concern (or benefits).
Some companies present contracts or agreement expecting them to be signed without question. For example big companies and employment contracts or they trot out the hackneyed adage :it’s a standard
document. Firstly, there is no such thing as a standard contract and there is no excuse for not doing contrcat review on what you are given before signature. Reviewing a contract thoroughly before it
is signed clarifies each party's obligations, protects their interests and ensures that all parties are being treated fairly.
It may well be that you seek some changes then the other side seeks to reword their clauses, which may lead to further negotiations and compromise before a final contract is agreed. But the aim is to
agree a framework for a long-lasting and mutually beneficial working relationship.
Unlike other companies who use contract review software we enact contract reviews manually working through a contract line by line to analyse the implications of every
provision.
Any contract is a legally binding agreement. Without a thorough review, there's a risk that the parties could be committed to something
they can't deliver. They could also be lumbered with unfavourable terms that lead to costly, and entirely avoidable, legal disputes.
Therefore the contract review process is important as it reduces the legal and financial risk involved in any agreement. It provides both parties with a chance to fully understand the terms and
conditions they are agreeing to before anything is signed,
We are not great fans of post-signature contract review, but it does allow you to check clauses and provisions to ensure they still cover the needs of the business and the regulations of the
relevant country.
A contract review ensures that all terms are fair, enforceable, and properly documented; making it clear what happens if either party were to break the conditions laid out in the contract.
For the average business owner, the language and level of detail in a contract can be what we describe as legal gobbledygook which leaves you at a disadvantage in many contract negotiations. Our
unique approach means that we can translate the gobbledygook into plain English,something automatic software does not as they often overlook the word ‘cobblers’.
As anything can be in a contract as long as it is not immoral or illegal then anybody can check a contract, so we use a diligent and
experienced paralegal team under out £1m PI insurance and set out a contract review, summarising the key points of liability and potential liability. We also always seek to insist that a waterfall
dispute procedure is included in nearly all agreements as this is the way people work. A basic premise often overlooked by lawyers and contract checking software is that contracts never fail on the
legal wording they fail in the way real people work with each other in real situations.. It is no good having all the legal wording in the world if the parties cannot agree on how they work together
or what they will do when an unforeseen event happens.
In a smaller organisation, we see contracts drafted by people whose recourse to contract law is reading other similar documents on the internet or a senior executive who plays golf with his
lawyer friend and got a tip in the 19th. We always say if it works for you then fine, but the same chief executive who takes a lawyer tip in the 19th will not take advice on his swing. He
goes and see the golf professional. Making an error on a par 5 may cost a shot. Making an error in a contract can cost may thousands of pounds.
For many businesses, the accessible and more cost-effective solution is to use a contract review and checking service that starts for as low
as £90.00 at CW Contract Law and Legal who deliver a process that is fast, accurate and insightful.
Contract reviews can be broken down into many areas, but we always look to our old regiment and seek to adopt the 6Ps as well as looking at what the contract is designed to achieve for the business and what risks they are likely to face, a careful review of the payment terms and triggers, commercial terms and duration periods.
An example is days eom on payment. 30 days eom = 44 days average payment
60day eom = 84 days average payment.
You would be surprised how many people miss the words eom. Even more than miss the £80.00 fine sign in London bus lanes.
Contract Review Checklist
Contracts can vary significantly depending on the type of agreement. But there are some common elements that every contract should
include.
Here's a quick rundown of some of the key points to include in your contract review checklist:
This list is far from exhaustive, but it does provide a few good places to start with a contract review, even if you're playing a lot of golf with a legal expert.
If you seek to use this then it works, but we always say that AI has a place, but people buy from people and people know what they want and expect when they agree contracts. Nothing worse than having a dispute and someone blaming the machine.
Drafting Terms and Conditions
If you do not currently use Terms and Conditions, you are leaving your business wide open to problems. We are able to advise and draft terms and conditions at fixed fees and advise you on the law of contract so there are no loopholes for any potential dispute.
Overhaul of current Terms and Conditions
Many businesses do not review their terms and conditions, despite changes in legislation and general trading practices. We provide a Terms and Conditions health check to assess your current terms and advise how they could be updated and improved to protect your business further.
Concise terms regarding overdue payment, charges and interest
Every business suffers from slow payers and overdue accounts. We can help you ensure your terms and conditions clearly state the provisions of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest ) Act 1998 so your clients are aware that you are serious about getting paid on time.
Advice on how to ensure terms are effective and legally binding
It is a common misconception that terms and conditions need to be signed for them to be legally binding and enforceable. This is not the case, so as specialists in checking and reviewing contracts we will make sure you are fully protected at all times.
Special terms for individual business sectors
Due to our experience dealing with legal issues across a wide variety of business and industry sectors, we can provide clients with advice on special and unique terms and conditions required in your chosen field.
Please call 0333 121 0161 for a free no obligation discussion, or visit our contact page and we will get back to you the same day with a response.