Frustrated by Contract Law - is it still fit for purpose?
£185 + VAT (member) / £225 + VAT (non-member)
Although contract law continues to evolve, are the remedies available sufficient anymore? Is the law up to date with modern practice? Are there areas that need reform?
Chaired by Stephen Cotton of Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie, the limitation of liability provisions in uncertain trading conditions, the proposed reform of consumer law and consumer finance, force majeure and frustration, boilerplate provisions, public procurement and data protection issues for contract lawyers will all be considered by a panel of experts.
Questions to be considered will include:
- what do contract drafters need to know about current developments relating to frustration and force majeure?
- what is the extent to which limitation of liability clauses are likely to be enforced by the courts in the current climate?
- are your clients and contracts ready for the reform of consumer law?
- what are the key public procurement issues for contract lawyers?
- how are data protection clauses being used in practice and should you also be using them for your clients?
- how do we cope with unexpected events?
We look forward to welcoming you to this important online conference.
What's being covered?
Frustration and force majeure
The effects of the pandemic and sanctions related to the war in Ukraine have thrown a renewed focus on the remedies of frustration and force majeure. We'll consider the approach taken by the courts in the resulting cases and the lessons for contract drafters.
Fiona Caldow, Dentons
Proposed reform of consumer law, retail financial advice and consumer finance - are your clients and their contracts ready?
In this session we will look at Consumer Credit Act and consumer law and practice reforms more generally as well as considering retail financial advice to investment clients.
Stephen Cotton, Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie
Limitation of liability provisions in uncertain trading conditions: fair, reasonable, clear and unambiguous?
Fulfilling contractual obligations on time and on budget is proving challenging for many businesses amid worker shortages, poor supply chains, inflation and the war in the Ukraine. Gillian will consider the extent to which limitation of liability clauses are likely to be enforced by the courts in the current climate and what practitioners can do to protect their clients’ interests in uncertain times.
Gillian Jamieson, Anderson Strathern
Public procurement – key issues for contract lawyers
This talk will focus on common issues for contract lawyers in public procurement exercises. Issues to be covered will include: procurement documentation – key drafting considerations and common pitfalls; responding to challenges raised during the procurement process; common problems at the selection stage; re-running a procurement process when the original procurement process has been terminated; automatic suspensions and remedies; and procurement reform.
John MacGregor KC, Axiom Advocates
Boilerplate (revisited)
We’ve looked in past contract conferences at the “boilerplate” language we find in commercial contracts. We’ll revisit this to think about, in particular, the sort of issues we should have in mind post-COVID. Focused on draftspersonship, this will include how we cope with unexpected events (such as a global pandemic), how we deal with contracting at a distance (as has been forced upon us by the pandemic) and other related themes.
Alan Stalker, Young & Partners
Data protection: its use and requirements for non-data protection lawyers
What does that boilerplate clause mean? How are data protection clauses being used in practice and should you also be using them for your clients? Stephen Grant takes a look at both technical and practical uses of data protection over the last few years since the inception of the GDPR.
Stephen Grant, Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie
