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Essential Contract Law: Risk Management Skills on Business Contracts for Non-Legal PMEs

From this practical legal risk management course, you will gain an understanding of the rules governing the formation and enforcement of commercial agreements. You will learn the critical contract clauses to manage your team to higher productivity and ensure contract compliance, as well as to maximise your company’s benefits and reduce business disputes.

This high impact 1-day workshop will equip you with the awareness of practices of business contract law principles and negotiate from a position of strength, thereby improving performance. Ignorance of law is not a privilege but is a misfortune.

An interactive approach with case scenarios problem solving questions including exercises and quiz will be used, together with guided discussions and many questions to enhance the learning environment.

Objective

Outline

1. Contract requirements including E-Commerce Transactions

• How to enter into a valid contract?
• Does a contract need to be in writing? Email correspondences
• Purchase orders and receipts & request for proposals
• Tendering and bidding process
• Authority to sign contracts
• Impact of negligence on business arrangements
• Can contract terms be amended? If so, how to?
• Variation of contract terms and 4 exceptions
• Variation of parties to the contract
• Third party rights

2. Exercises - MCQ Quiz and Problem solving questions

• exercises on contract formation and doctrine of variation

3. Provisions and contract clauses

• specifications, warranties and indemnities
• differences between "representations" and contract terms
• what are the different types of misrepresentations? - fraudulent, negligent and wholly innocent
• express terms v implied terms
• fundamental terms, condition, warranties
• termination by fundamental breach or repudiation
• parol evidence rule and the entire agreement clause
• incorporating exemption clauses (disclaimer) in a contract
• best practice for exclusion and liability clauses - on how to limit your liability effectively
• impact of unfair contract terms law

4. Exercises - Quiz and Problem questions to do

• Exercises applying learning on excluding liability clauses and effect on breach of contract terms

5. How to end contract lawfully?

• by performance - exact & precise with exceptions
• by agreement - novation
• by frustration - force majeure / hardship / intervener clause
• by breach
• liquidated damages and "penalty" clauses
• when are damages recoverable? What are foreseeable damages?
• substantial damages and nominal damages
• how are damages calculated?
• how to mitigate damages?
• when will courts award equitable remedies of specific performance and injunction?
• What termination clauses are effective?
• survival of terms upon contract termination

6. Exercises - MCQ quiz and problem questions to do

• Exercises on frustration, contract termination and the effects of breach of contract, measurement of damages and liquidated damages and penalty clauses

7. Resolving Business Disputes

• Negotiation
• Mediation - arbitration clause
• Advantages and disadvantages - arbitration and litigation
• Sample of appropriate dispute resolution clause

8. Learning Points and Conclusion

• Summary of best practices in contract law
• MCQ quiz
• Questions and answers

Who should attend

Profile of Catherine Tay

Catherine Tay has over 35 years of lecturing experience as an Associate Professor lecturing business law at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Strategy and Policy, NUS Business School. She is an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. She is also a barrister-at-law (of Lincoln’s Inn, United Kingdom). She is an author of more than 8 law books, including her best-seller book title called "Contract Law - A layman Guide".

She studied law at Queen Mary College, University of London and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and with a Master of Laws, in which she specialised in Company, Shipping, Insurance and Marine Insurance Laws.

She has facilitated seminars and in-house training courses for many business law topics such as tenancy agreements, contract administration management, procurement contracts, legal and practical aspects of tender management, Service Level Agreements and Outsourcing contracts, oil and gas contract management, insurance contracts, Intellectual Property Laws and PDPA data privacy laws. She is an examiner on law subjects for a number of professional bodies and universities in Singapore and overseas. She has lectured at the NUS Extension in professional and business management law courses.

She was an adjunct lecturer at NUS Institute of System Science, in IT outsourcing contracts for over 20 years. She is the Honourable Legal Advisor for Singapore Optometric Association, as well as for the Singapore Institute of Engineering Technologists.