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Sale

4-day International Commercial Contracts School Training Course (London, United Kingdom - May 19-22, 2025)

  • Training

  • 4 Days
  • Location: London, United Kingdom
  • May 19th 09:00 - May 22nd 16:30 GMT+1
  • Falconbury Ltd
  • ID: 6058360
EUR$642USDGBP OFF until Apr 14th 2025

This four-day International Commercial Contracts School will give you a detailed understanding of contract law, drafting techniques and negotiation tactics. 

Presented by Mark Weston, an international specialist in the field, the course will enable participants to effectively navigate the complex areas of drafting and negotiating contracts. It will provide the practical skills and knowledge needed to give you the confidence to understand and draft your agreements successfully.

With this in mind, we have developed this modular and comprehensive multi-part programme that focuses on delivering practical and applied training of the key drafting and negotiating skills needed to create transparent and direct contracts that deliver on a legal and commercial level. Each module of the course builds on the module before.

  • Module one: Legal relationships, interpretation and formation of contracts focuses on understanding legal relationships, explains the fundamentals of how contracts are interpreted and looks at the formation of your contracts 
  • Module two: Drafting and negotiating skills looks at expanding your drafting skills to deliver concise and watertight agreements and pre-contract negotiation skills 
  • Module three: Negotiating in the international business arena looks in more detail at negotiation planning and process, focussing on specific techniques
  • Module four: Boilerplate and standard clauses considers how these clauses can be drafted and applied to leverage commercial value and manage legal risk, while considering governing law and jurisdiction

Practical interactive learning style

This workshop-style programme has been designed to offer a practical solution to your drafting challenges. Throughout the programme the expert presenter will use a balanced mix of theory, group exercises, discussion, sample clauses and case studies to provide you with a comprehensive portfolio of practical tips and techniques to draft contracts which meet your commercial objectives as well as ensuring that there are no ‘surprises’ further on.

Benefits of attending

By attending this course you will:

  • Expand your knowledge of commercial contract format and structure
  • Understand negotiating law and pre-contract documentation and discussions
  • Get to grips with express and implied terms and standard terminology
  • Understand the pitfalls and pluses to applying an effective standard structure and format to every contract
  • Master practical drafting techniques to write concise and effective agreements
  • Examine the effect of exclusion and limitation clauses, and how they can be used to manage your exposure
  • Learn how to prepare your specific negotiation plan
  • Consider the purpose and effect of typical boilerplate clauses and how you can leverage value for your organisation through clearer drafting
  • Discuss any disputes or issues you are facing with colleagues from other organisations to gain new ideas and perspectives

Course Content


Day 1Module 1: Basics and Necessary Theoretical Underpinning
Introduction to legal relationships: When are you obligated to someone?
  • Discussion
  • Common law:
    • Torts
    • Contracts
    • Statutory duties
    • Equity
  • Civil law
    • Civil codes
Contract Interpretation
  • A contract: what’s it all for?
  • Systems of law
  • Legal systems of the world
    • Civil law -v- common law approaches
  • English law:
    • Precedent (and some Latin)
    • Interpretation and construction
    • Classical contract interpretation (6 canons)
    • Clarity and ambiguity
    • Modern contract interpretation (10 principles)
    • The relevance of background to a contract
Some things to think about when drafting:
  • Breach of contract
  • Remedies and enforcement
How do you form a contract?
  • Ingredients to form a contract
    • Battle of the forms
  • Distinctions between negotiations and contracts:
    • Have you accidentally formed a contract while negotiating?
      • 'Subject to contract'
      • 'Without prejudice'
Day 2Module 2: Skills for drafting a contract
Commercial contract format and structure
  • Law and custom
  • Tone and format
  • Deed or under hand?
  • Mapping the deal
    • The free draft
    • The tied draft: structures of typical commercial contracts
  • Examining our agreement
Negotiating law, ancillary documentation and contracts
  • Negotiating law
  • Pre-contract documentation and discussions
    • Prevention is better than cure
    • Words to avoid
      • LDs and penalties
  • The pre-contract process
    • Preparation
    • Negotiations
    • Pre-contract documents
    • Interim Agreements
  • Pre-contract contracts (TLAs)
  • Content of TLA documents
  • Agreements to Agree and change
Terms: express, implied and standard terminology
  • Implied terms
    • 3 types
    • Plus 1
  • Express terms
    • Time is of the essence
    • Endeavours
  • Standard terminology
    • reasonable
    • substantial
    • material
Drafting techniques (practical tips)
Drafting techniques: the hard stuff (1)
  • Shall, will, endeavours
  • WCI
  • Undertakings
  • Representations
Drafting techniques: the hard stuff (2)
  • Warranties
  • Indemnities
Exclusion and limitation clauses
  • Famous liability myths
  • Internationally accepted practice
  • Factors which do and do not affect liability
  • Negotiating liability clauses: B2B
  • Arguments by each side
  • Drafting liability clauses: B2B
  • Types and categories of loss
  • UCTA
  • Process issues
Day 3Module 3: Negotiating in the international business arenaSimplifying complexity
Background
  • Negotiation - what do we mean?
  • Good negotiators
A negotiation process model
  • General knowledge: know yourself and CP
    • Understanding fears
    • Understanding paralanguage
    • Understanding body language
    • Understanding negotiation styles
    • International negotiations: understanding context
    • International negotiations: understanding culture
  • Specific deal knowledge: know the deal
    • Understanding stakeholder interests
    • Understanding the key objectives
    • Understanding commercial leverage
    • BATNA
    • WATNA
    • Bottom line
    • ZOPA
Prepare your specific negotiation plan
  • Understanding and preparing your SIIOOPS
  • Preparing your team composition
  • Rehearsing
  • Setting the agenda
  • Preparing the environment
  • Defining communication rules
The negotiation
  • Negotiate!
  • Strategy and sharing
  • Feedback
Negotiation techniques
  • Techniques around offers and counters
  • Techniques to resolve conflicts
  • Techniques to build trust
  • Techniques to get past negotiation obstacles
  • Ploys and counterploys
  • Situational tactics
  • Closing
Day 4Module 4: Boilerplate and standard clausesIntroduction to boilerplate
Transferring Contractual Obligations
  • Transferring rights
    • Assignment
    • Novation
    • Other
  • Third party rights
    • Privity
    • Some history
    • Practical examples
    • The 1999 rules
    • Drafting issues and traps
Welded Boiler-plate
  • Part 1: Interpretation
  • Part 2: Notice and Communications
  • Part 3: Waiver
  • Part 4: Invalidity and severance
  • Part 6: Force majeure
Entire agreement clausesGoverning law, jurisdiction and dispute resolution clauses
Miscellaneous boilerplate
  • Announcements
  • Counterparts
  • Partnerships
  • Government contracts
  • Non-solicitation
  • Further assurances
  • Equitable relief
  • Signatures

Course Provider

  •  Mark Weston
  • Mark Weston ,
    Hill Dickinson LLP


    Mark Weston is a partner at Hill Dickinson LLP where he is Head of Commercial Law (London), Information Technology Law and, Intellectual Property Law. Mark joined the firm in 2016 from Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP where for 12 years he was a partner and Head of the Commercial, Intellectual Property and Information Technology Group, before which he spent several years at Baker McKenzie. Mark’s practice covers both non-contentious and contentious matters in all areas of commercial law, intellectual property law, information technology law, Internet, digital and privacy/data law. He specialises in commercial and tech issues. He has extensive experience in-house, having been seconded in the past to Hewlett Packard and new technology companies. His practice covers all sorts of commercial areas (including distribution, agency, franchising, sales and marketing strategies, advice and documentation) as well as extensive IT niches including advising clients regarding hardware and software issues (including SaaS, cloud, development, licensing, maintenance and distribution), solutions for and methods of transacting on the Internet, electronic commerce including B2B, B2C and B2G, S-commerce and M-commerce, social media, strategies to minimise or maximise liability and carry out compliance audits, outsourcing, facilities management, procurement, company IT policies and data protection (privacy) issues. He also has experience in IT litigation (and different alternative dispute resolution techniques). Mark writes various books on his specialist topics and is an editor and contributor to several publications and articles and lectures at numerous commercial, IP and IT-related conferences and training programmes. Mark appears regularly on BBC1 (usually providing advice on-screen to BBC Watchdog) and also on Sky News as a legal commentator.
     

Who Should Attend

This 4-day course has been specially designed for:

  • Heads of legal
  • In-house counsel
  • Contracts directors and managers
  • Commercial directors and managers
  • Senior business development executives
  • Private practice lawyers
  • Professional advisors

Location

ADDRESS

Rembrandt Hotel
11 Thurloe Pl,
Kensington
London
SW7 2RS
United Kingdom


DIRECTIONS

The Rembrandt Hotel is located at 11 Thurloe Place, London, SW7 2RS. The hotel’s location in central London couldn’t be better, whether you’re travelling for business or leisure. You’ll be right between two of London’s most fashionable areas – South Kensington and Knightsbridge – within walking distance of museums, theatres, Harrods and Hyde Park.

You can hop on the Tube at South Kensington and take the District, Circle or Piccadilly lines direct to the City of London, Heathrow Airport and all other areas of the city. Look out of your window and you may well see the Victoria and Albert Museum – it’s right across the street.