This Practical Guide will provide a brief, practical overview of some legal issues that are commonly encountered when drafting and negotiating university contracts. Some of these issues concern the basic framework of contract law, which underpins university contracts and makes them legally effective (or not). For example, has “consideration” passed from both parties to the contract? Has the right person signed the contract? Does the contract need to be in any particular format? Often, these are housekeeping points, which may need to be thought about prior to signature of the contract, but which don’t usually raise negotiating issues. Other legal issues are more “applied”, and often come up in negotiations. For example, should warranties and indemnities be given, should liability be limited, which country’s law should govern the contract, and what dispute resolution procedures should apply?
This Practical Guide is divided into two main parts:
Chapter 1 consists of a discussion of general legal issues that arise with many different types of contract;
Chapter 2 is a glossary of selected words that are encountered in commercial contracts or legal practice, and which have acquired a particular meaning (e.g., best endeavours, engross, execute, etc.).
To read more, download the attached document - this is a member-only resource: last updated 2014