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Your business engages in many commercial agreements, including those with suppliers, clients and partners. Contracts will vary to reflect the specific agreement accurately. Due to the commercial significance of business agreements, obtaining expert legal advice before signing a contract may be beneficial for negotiating and recording commercial deals. In this article, we will explore five reasons to engage a commercial lawyer within the contract process.
1. Expert Legal Advice
Commercial contract solicitors have expertise in dealing with companies and commercial clients. The solicitor will usually ask you about your company’s commercial objectives within any potential deal and advise you on the best possible ways of achieving them.
A good lawyer can advise whether the contract’s wording is legal and which clauses are likely to be accepted or rejected. Notably, they will be able to explain why a specific clause is unsuitable or incorrectly worded and advise you of any alternative methods to achieve your aims.
A lawyer will also help you cut through the technical and complex legal phrases. This type of legal language and its meaning is second-nature to lawyers. On the other hand, business owners without this knowledge may struggle to understand contract language. By delegating this work to an expert contract lawyer, you can focus on running your business instead.
2. Speed
Lawyers are well versed in drafting, reviewing and agreeing on commercial contracts. Since commercial transactions are the bread and butter of most commercial lawyers, they are usually quick to advise, draft and negotiate contracts. While a lawyer acting for your organisation cannot force the other side to move quickly, they can advise on the correct time (and method) to chase them up and encourage finalising the agreement.
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3. Bargaining Power
The other company will take negotiations more seriously if a skilled lawyer represents you. Again, this is because the other business cannot take advantage of your lack of knowledge to suggest blatantly unfair or unreasonable clauses. In contrast, you may struggle to negotiate the terms of a complex commercial agreement against a resistant, opposing lawyer on your own.
4. Legal Contract Drafting
Some companies and directors feel confident negotiating commercial deals. Unfortunately, they are not always familiar with the complicated art of legal drafting. Poorly drafted commercial contracts can expose your business to problems, including:
- agreeing to unenforceable terms (which may void the entire contract);
- agreeing to blatantly unfair terms or ‘loophole’ clauses, which give the other side a disguised escape route;
- agreeing to specific wording which has a different legal effect to how it appears in layman’s terms; and
- failing to provide your business with a reasonable chance to terminate the contract in specific circumstances.
5. The Art of Compromise
In a negotiation, both sides usually compromise to reach an agreement. A lawyer can advise your company on what you should and should not compromise on. Some clauses are much more critical to your company’s well being than others, and a skilled lawyer can help you decide where to draw the line and how to negotiate successfully.
Do I Need Legal Advice Before Signing Every Contract?
While it is not necessary to engage a lawyer before signing every contract you enter, legal advice can be immensely valuable for complex or high-value contracts. Having a good lawyer provide advice with commercial contracts is equivalent to having a great sports team manager. A lawyer can influence the contract through their knowledge and experience in a commercially beneficial way.
Key Takeaways
Legal advice before signing a contract can help protect your commercial interests. A good lawyer can advise your business on the best options, negotiate with the other party and draft a contract tailored to your business needs. Furthermore, by relying on their expert skills, you can quickly and efficiently finalise your agreement. This allows you to focus on running your business instead.
If you need help with a company contract, our experienced contract lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, of course. You will need to bring the lawyer up to speed on negotiations to date and provide them with any emails or draft wording exchanged.
When drafting contracts, lawyers aim to use language that cannot be interpreted in more than one way. This makes the wording seem very formal and dry but aims to make it more precise and understandable to courts and judges in the event of any future dispute.
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