Commercial Contracts in Practice

Key learning points:

• The lawyer’s role in commercial contracting – balancing commercial objectives with legal and contractual risk.
• Contract formation and incorporation of terms – including practical lessons from Noreside Construction v Irish Asphalt and the importance of agreeing terms before a contract is formed.
• Key commercial terms – including pricing, payment, delivery, scope of services, KPIs, deliverables and intellectual property.
• Warranties and indemnities – understanding their purpose, scope and role in allocating contractual risk.
• Limitation of liability – liability caps, carve-outs, excluded losses and the importance of clear drafting.
• Termination and penalty clauses – considering performance triggers, termination processes and payments arising on breach.
• Boilerplate clauses that matter – practical considerations around force majeure, entire agreement and assignment provisions.
• Contract management and disputes – establishing clear processes for approvals, escalation, execution, renewals and dispute management.
• Legal advice privilege – practical considerations when communicating legal advice within a commercial environment.
• AI and commercial legal work – using AI for issue spotting, comparison, summaries and first drafts while maintaining meaningful human review.
• Best-practice drafting – keeping agreements clear, specific and up to date, and avoiding unnecessary ambiguity.