OUR APPROACH TO CONTRACT REVIEW

CONTRACTS  |  REVIEW  |  DRAFT  |  NEGOTIATE  | ENFORCE

Contact Neufeld Legal PC at 403-400-4092 / 905-616-8864 or Chris@NeufeldLegal.com

From the perspective of reviewing business contracts, for over 25 years now, as a business contract lawyer, the first thing that any business client needs to understand is that I am not prepared to assess the potential legal work and cost on a “sight unseen” basis.

Prior to advising on the potential cost of any business contract review, I want to first see the intended contract that I am supposed to review, such that I might make a proper assessment of the legal time that I anticipate being involved in its review.

And as with almost every aspect of my law practice, clients almost always benefit from providing myself with perspective and insights into their business and the particular transaction, as well as any questions or concerns that they currently have, together with any added materials or information that might be significant.

With this preliminary information and documentation, I am capable of providing a cost estimate, or estimated budget, together with any additional considerations arising from the anticipated legal project.

I find this particularly important when I come across proposed business contracts and other legal agreements that are poorly drafted or designed for another business transaction or country, given that the client needs to seriously consider if they are even going to proceed with this inappropriate document, considering the amount of legal exposure it is likely to create, among other problems (together with the heightened legal cost).

If the client is good with our pricing, we proceed to attain any further information, communications and documentation from the client, given that we want to be integrating business objectives, as well as negotiated advancements, as opposed to only looking at the documentation from a purely legal standpoint, which is not advantageous to the business client.

We also consider the particular business transaction and the intended objectives, such that our legal review and analysis is consistent with the business objectives, as well as our legal analysis as to how the counter-party is oftentimes attempting to limit their responsibilities and/or exposure.

The harsh reality is that with legal language and its very nuanced terminology, it is possible to improperly manipulate the intended objectives of a business contract, where the business aspects are not properly understood and assured, when proceeding through the legal review of the documentation.

As we are undertaking our legal review, we might have further questions, such that we produce a comprehensive analysis of the business contract, together with our considerations and suggested action items.

And it is with that knowledge and information that the business client can take its next steps in relation to the proposed business contract, which may or may not include ourselves, from negotiations to re-drafting to implementation.

Business contracts need to advance your commercial objectives when entering into a particular transaction or business arrangement, with the legal language supporting this objective, as opposed to hindering and obstructing your attainment of those goals, while increasing your legal and financial exposure.

The range of business contracts that our law firm reviews includes, but is not limited to, Unanimous Shareholder Agreements, Partnership Agreements, Independent Contractor Agreements, Service Agreements, Asset and Share Purchase Documents, Commercial Lease Agreements, Equipment Lease Agreements, Financing Agreements, Loan Agreements, Franchise Agreements, Software Development Contracts, to name just a few.

For knowledgeable and experienced legal representation in negotiating, drafting and reviewing business contracts, contact our law firm by email at Chris@NeufeldLegal.com or by telephone at 403-400-4092 / 905-616-8864.

 

Click here for our law firm's Contract Law webpage.