Aspects of Contracts Your Business May Have Been Missing
When it comes to conducting business, nothing is more important than reading the fine print, especially if your company helped create the contract in the first place. The history of entrepreneurship could be called the history of contractual agreements. Fortunes are made—and reversed—daily based upon the wording and the enforcement of business contracts. The days when business could be conducted based upon a handshake between two individuals is long gone. The contract, in its essence, is just a solidified, formalized, legalized version of that same handshake. Along with the contractual agreement comes the force of the law, stating that the parties involved must scrupulously follow what they previously decreed in their contract. When a disagreement arises between the parties, the decision about how to proceed will be based upon what happened in contrast to what the contract committed to happen.
Tools for Clarity When Enforcing Contracts
It is seldom if ever the case that parties enter into a contractual agreement expecting that it will be disputed and resolved in the legal system. However, if that should happen, it is worth knowing that you have a number of litigation tools at your disposal as you move toward a resolution. Should a time arise that you go to deposition or even trial, there are various methods available to collect information and record pertinent data. There are occasions when you may require videographers, interpreters or transcribers in your efforts to achieve compliance with legal agreements. When faced with such a need, the sources most likely to fulfill your requirements in Washington are court reporters Seattle.
Good Contracts Make Good Colleagues
It is an important step in establishing a working relationship to have a preliminary agreement. Often these take the form of an MOU—a memorandum of understanding. In those rare occasions when two organizations are merely “rubbing elbows” and not depending monetarily on one another, an MOU might suffice. In almost all cases, as a recent Forbes article pointed out, a contract is truly a necessary step. Contracts are essential when the details are most important. Without a contract, important expectations—like start and completion dates, exact descriptions of the work to be done, who is going to do it, what resources are to be used and those steps along the way that confirm things are going to plan—can be left to chance. Intentions and assumptions can be demolished without recourse.
Most Common Contractual Mistakes
Creating a good contract really boils down to not leaving anything to chance and not omitting any item that is significant to your company. When contracts fail to deliver to you what your business required, there are often certain common errors that have been made:
• Failing to create a contract. If someone you are working with can disappoint you by failing to provide what you have agreed upon, you need a contract.
• Failing to get legal advice. Some business people decide they will write their own agreements and these are the contracts that are both most likely to be breached and least likely to be enforceable in a courtroom.
• Failing to include all the details. Going over the fine print with all parties to the contract helps to make certain that the expectations of all involved are clear.
A Well-Drawn Contract Is the Easiest to Enforce
In the event that you do end up embroiled in the legal system, the first thing that will become apparent is the quality of your contract. A well-written contract will be clear to understand and should be easier to enforce. There are other specific benefits to having a quality contract. For instance, contracts can spell out potential difficulties and describe how they are to be dealt with. Contracts can dictate how disagreements are to be resolved. Contracts can spell out when a working relationship comes to an end, allowing a mutual clean break. If you want to engage in functional, dependable business, sometimes you have to sign on the dotted line.
