Drafting and Interpretation as the Law Develops
£195 + VAT (member) / £245 + VAT (non-member)
Contract law continues to evolve. Our new online conference will consider recent developments in a number of key areas which are of importance to all those who draft contracts.
Chaired by Michael Upton of Themis Advocates, an expert panel of speakers including Alastair Dunn of BTO, Gillian Jamieson from Anderson Strathern, Professor Oles Andriychuk of Newcastle University Law School, Alan Stalker of Young & Partners, Ross Taylor and John Stirling from Gillespie Macandrew will tackle topics ranging from damages as a remedy for breach, drafting tips and interpretation to prescription, competition law post-Brexit and contracting at a distance.
Questions to be considered will include:
- how do you avoid common mistakes when drafting contracts?
- when might you persuade a judge that the words in a contract are just a mistake to be corrected?
- how is competition in digital markets being regulated post-Brexit?
- how do we make counterpart execution effective?
- how best should we protect ourselves and our clients when giving advice on breach of contract?
What's being covered?
Drafting tips and common errors
Among other things this talk will cover getting the right information and how to avoid common mistakes. Interpretation and the courts will also be considered with particular reference to drafting and notice periods, issues with intellectual property, and drafting and exclusion clauses. Some solutions to these issues will be offered.
Alastair Dunn, BTO
Interpretation of contracts
Most written contracts which arguably have two possible meanings can be read in these two ways; either literally, without reference to anything but a dictionary - or else purposively by reference to parties’ unstated background knowledge - which may be knowledge of the specifics, or just knowledge of the way the world is. These are the ’textual’ and ‘contextual’ approaches. The debate between them is endless - and either of them can be correct in any given case. This session will discuss how to choose between them, and when you might persuade a judge that the words are just a mistake to be corrected.
Michael Upton, Themis Advocates
Damages as a remedy for breach
Gillian Jamieson, Anderson Strathern
The 5 year prescription
The Supreme Court decision in David T Morrison and Co Ltd v ICL Plastics Ltd 2014 UKSC 48, the 2018 Act that codifies it and the Courts’ reactions to it, prompt questions of how best we should protect ourselves and our clients when giving advice. This session will discuss some of the factors a solicitor advising on breach of contract, delict and unjust enrichment should consider.
John Stirling & Ross Taylor, Gillespie Macandrew
Comparing the incomparable: UK and EU models for regulating competition in digital markets
After a long theatrical pause, giving politely way to the EU DMA, the UK is finally introducing its version of ex-ante regulation aiming at recalibrating competition in digital markets. The new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill (DMCCb) is currently at the third reading in the House Of Commons. The purpose of this presentation is (i) to describe the main elements of the DMCCb (with the focus on Part 1 of the bill, introducing the new rules for regulating competition in digital markets); (ii) to compare the described elements with the DMA; and (iii) to offer some suggestions as to how the provisions of the bill could be modified to meet the expected outcomes.
Professor Oles Andriychuk, Newcastle University Law School
Contracts – but at a distance?
How do we make counterpart execution effective? How do we use unregulated models such as HelloSign and DocuSign? What regulated models can we use so that we can have actual agreement rather than evidence of the agreement? And, let us not forget consumers: what do we need to do when we are dealing with people otherwise than face-to-face?
Alan Stalker, Young & Partners
