Contracts...

Contracts…

We know, from the Sam Goldwyn, that ‘a verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on’.

The columnist Sathnam Sanghera (The Times) recently made a few telling points in relation to a Harvard Business Review article by Deepak Malhotra which basically was in favour of less rigid contracts in the business world, when he pointed to Warren Buffet’s preference for a deals based on trust (an example being his acquistion of McLance & Co from Wal-Mart for $1.5billion where he said “ we did no due diligence. We knew everything would be exactly as Wal-Mart said it would be”).

He also referred to the conclusion reached by a research project in Warwick Business School, which was that trust was a better basis for a business agreement than a precisely worded contract.

What can all this mean – shorter contracts or no contracts, no due diligence, less contract disputes, more trust?

What would this mean for lawyers?

However, the more serious aspect of this is – what would it mean for law publishers!!

Fortunately, what might be called the ‘short-and-easy-to-understand contract movement’ is unlikely to get very far – firms are too untrusting, too frightened of risk, too bureaucratic and too in thrall to lawyers and accountants ever to embrace simplicity and mutual respect at the expense of a complicated contract. Phew!

(So, take a glance at Thorogood’s books on contractual matters, from contract administration and negotiation through to drafting and remedies as well as the technical reports on International Commercial Agreements, Employment Contracts or Software Contract Agreements. Hurry while stocks lasts and contracts remain!!)

Current offers

	Save £25.00 on Project Risk Management – The Commercial Dimension (Edition 1, ) when bought with The Commercial Manager (Edition 1, Ring-bound)) Buy both
	Save £15.00 on The PR Practitioner’s Desktop Guide (Edition 2, Ring-bound) when bought with The Marketing Strategy Desktop Guide (Edition 2, Ring-bound)) Buy both
	Channel of Invasion (Edition 1, Paperback) just £7.99 when bought with The Secret Channel (Edition 1, Paperback) Buy both
	Save 33% on Effective Recruitment – A Practical Guide to Staying Within the Law (Edition 1, Report) when bought with Reviewing and Changing Contracts of Employment (Edition 2, Report) Buy both
	Save 33% on International Commercial Agreements (Edition 1, Report) when bought with Managing In-house Legal Services (Edition 1, Report) Buy both