Identify the parties and commercial objective
Confirm the legal names, roles, transaction, deliverables, price, timetable and documents incorporated by reference. A review cannot assess risk properly if schedules or referenced terms are missing.
Map obligations and dependencies
For every important obligation, identify who must act, by when, to what standard and what happens if another party or dependency fails. Ambiguous acceptance and change processes often create avoidable disputes.
Review money and liability
Check invoicing, tax, expenses, interest, set-off, deposits, refunds, indemnities, exclusions, caps, insurance and liability that is unlimited or allocated asymmetrically.
Review ownership and information
Identify who owns existing and newly created intellectual property, what licences are granted, how confidential information may be used and whether data-protection responsibilities are workable.
Plan termination and exit
Check notice, termination events, cure periods, payment on exit, return of property and data, continuing restrictions, handover and dispute provisions. Proposed wording should support the actual commercial objective rather than copy generic language.
Prepare before acting
- read the complete notice, claim, decision or agreement
- record issue, receipt, service and hearing dates
- identify the exact outcome required
- separate supported facts from assumptions
- link each disputed point to a document or other evidence
- check the current official form, fee, filing and service route
- verify every statement before signing or filing
Legal and procedural foundation
- Unfair contract terms guidance
- Consumer Rights Act 2015
- Electronic signatures
Forms, deadlines, fees, filing and service requirements must be checked against the current official material and the circumstances of the particular matter.
Verify the current position
Links lead to the material used to structure this publication.