Contract negotiation tips

[This page is a collection of links to some of my prior posts. It's a work in progress]

For those looking for my e-book, it’s here.

Some initial considerations

How to convince the other side to use your contract form

How to kill a big-company deal in the cradle: Refuse to use the other side’s contract form

A balanced contract form can help get to signature faster

Leading off with a “hardball” contract form document might be a bad idea

Cramming down a killer contract might give you a wounded tiger to deal with later on

Another argument for using balanced contract forms

Three reasons to educate the other side’s negotiators what to ask for in the contract

Drafting – general principles

The virtues of using industry-standard terminology in contracts

Contracts should explain their terms as necessary

Writing a sample calculation into the contract itself might have highlighted this “absurd” clause in time to fix it

In contracts, brevity is not always the highest virtue

It’s OK to say “represents and warrants” instead of just one or the other (but you might not want to)

Drafting contractual limitations of liability: Do it risk by risk, not one-size-fits-all

Limitations of liability: Try varying them with time, and/or with circumstances

Demanding the right to exercise tight control over the other party’s business can make you vicariously liable for its misdeeds — article

Reseller agreements

Why word processing has actually increased clients’ total cost of contract negotiation

Drafting for disputes

Consider spelling out exactly what is to be done to fix a breach

Keep individuals’ personal interests in mind

Why the fraud claim is the lawyer’s weapon of choice in lawsuits over failed technology projects

Consider providing a written risk-factors disclosure sheet

Consider a no-reliance clause to help forestall claims of fraudulent misrepresentation

Clearly label demos and mock-ups as such

An early-neutral-evaluation clause can help keep contract disputes out of court and protect business relationships

Negotiations

When you can’t just say no in a contract: Three creative compromises

Five potential responses to a bigger company’s onerous contract demands

When a contract negotiation gets tough, try to make it about money, not about “legal stuff”

An oral understanding might not get you off the hook for a written contractual obligation

Responding to customer demands for extended payment terms

Best-efforts obligations: Six negotiation tips

Negotiating a customer’s code-of-conduct compliance request in a contract

Dilbert on sales-contract negotiations

Signing a business contract: A quick checklist for greater peace of mind

RFP responses

Five legal points to include in an RFP response (though Procurement’s nose may get out of joint)

RFP provisions that hurt, not help, the customer

Maybe startups shouldn’t respond to RFPs