How Can Your Business Benefit from Consulting a Contract Attorney
Running a successful business involves making the right deals and contracts. This means hiring a business contract attorney to help you with all the legal jargon before entering into any contracts.
A business contract attorney is experienced and knowledgeable in business law and can assist you in reviewing, drafting and negotiating deals that protect your interest. What are some of the business agreements and contracts you’ll need the services of a business contract lawyer?
Common Types of Business Agreements
There are different types of contracts you can enter into as a business. Some of them include licensing agreement, service agreement, purchase agreement, partnership contract, employment contract, commercial and equipment lease.
1. General Business Contracts
These type of contracts defines how businesses are structured and the systems put in place to protect the interest of stakeholders. Examples include indemnity agreements — which protects you from any liability in case of an injury or property damage.
Partnership agreements, in particular, can be very tricky to deal with since most of them have unique elements regarding roles and responsibilities, decision-making process, contributions, and other essential details between the two parties.
Other general business contracts include a non-disclosure agreement, also referred to as confidentiality agreement, property and equipment leases.
2. Sale Contract Agreement
Sales of goods agreement or purchase agreement are contracts made between a buyer and a seller, and it covers the transaction process from the sale point to the delivery of goods.
These contracts are meant to protect your business from disputes arising from the sale or purchase of goods, particularly stocks and assets that involve huge amounts of money. In this case, you’ll need to sign a purchase agreement.
Considering the sensitive nature of these transactions and a lot of money at stake, it’s important to hire a business contract attorney to help you interpret the sale and purchase agreement, and understand what you’re getting into.
3. Employment Agreement
Employment contracts cover the relationship between the employer and employees, and it states the terms of employment such as duration, wages or salaries, responsibilities, confidentiality, reasons for dismissal and other benefits. Other elements of an employment agreement may include a non-compete agreement and ownership agreement for patent and rights legal issues.
These contracts ensure that there is a clear line of responsibilities so there is no confusion as to who is supposed to what and project deadlines. It helps streamline any confusion in duties. A business contract attorney can help you draft an employment contract and ensure it’s within the law. Breach of contract by any party, business or employee, renders it null and void and it may attract legal problems.
While the specific elements of business contracts vary depending on the needs of the parties involved, there are common characteristics that can be seen in most business contracts.
Representations
This is an important element in a business contract and it lists all the transaction parties, items of sale and the sale date. It’s used to state the interest of the parties and clarifying every transactional detail that is about to happen.
Covenants
Business contracts are founded on covenants and promises given by a party in the contract, particularly the seller. Covenants state what one party to the contract should and shouldn’t do. It limits certain actions from being taken by contract parties.
Conditions
For a contract to be complete and binding, there have to be some conditions involved and must be true. For instance, a buyer has to provide proof that payment is certainly going to be made. It’s in the conditions that most business contract conflicts arise from, and could potentially cause one party to walk away from the contract, or file a lawsuit.
So if you’re planning to enter into any contract it would be best if you consider hiring a professional business contract attorney to help you draft, review and negotiate the terms of the agreements. In case of a dispute, this lawyer will come in handy to defend you should there be a dispute in the contract by the other party.