About

This workshop is designed to be very hands on - designed to assist more experienced people in understanding how to draft a range of contracts relevant to their business and to develop more skills in contract administration function, together with the tools and techniques required to do the job effectively, efficiently and profitably – ensuring that you achieve the highest possible standards of excellence.
• Understand the structure of model contracts
• Develop a template set of documents
• Maximise the contribution that sound contracts administration can make within your organisation
• Minimise contractual risk
• Construct your own ‘small print’ and challenge that of others
• Enhance your knowledge and drafting skills
• Assist in establishing systems to manage and control documents

Outline

Understanding contracting objectives
• Company objectives
   - What are the business drivers you need to consider when deciding on commercial terms to include in your contracts
   - Understanding the supply chain and how it may impact on your organisations business objectives
• Identifying different types of contracts
   - How do you assess whether you have the right document for the job.
• Commercial awareness
   - What you need to look for when considering the types of contracts you need.
• Commercial management
   - Assessing the factors that get the right balance between managing contracts and driving efficiencies.
• What documents do you need in your business?
   - Create a check list to assist in finalising the document templates your organisation requires.

Improving your drafting skills
• Drafting starts with effective thinking
   - Understand how to structure your contract
• The key objective
   - Where do you start?
   - What policies and procedures should you consider
• The craft of contract drafting
   - Learn the basic skills required to draft a contract
• Defined terms; precise language
   - What is plain English
   - Tips on what to do and what not to do
• The specific and the general
   - Ensure your document s do not contain any ambiguity
   - What happens if there is ambiguity
• Traps for the unwary

Drafting workshop developing model: 
Learn how to structure your documents.  What clauses are essential?  What is the difference between short form and long form contracts?  This module will be a hands on workshop in which you develop and draft the following documents.  If you already have a template - bring it along and use the opportunity to update and improve the document.
• Terms of trade
• Service agreement
• Purchase of goods

Contract terms and conditions
It is often difficult to know what you should expect to see in a contract and whether what is there is appropriate in the circumstances.
This module will guide you through the following:
• Techniques for reviewing contracts
• How to identify what must be included
• How to identify what is missing
• Is a terms relevant
• Is a clause the right clause
• Ways of arguing over terms
   - How much room do you have to negotiate an amendment
   - Know what is important and what is not important if you need to reach a compromise or agree to the other sides wording.

The keys to contract management and control
• The system
   - What are the essential management tools for a ‘best practice’ contract management system?
• The importance of record keeping
   - What can you improve your record keeping
• Early warning systems
   - How to ensure you can anticipate what is required to do to ensure compliance with your contract or the contractor is meeting its obligations
• How to deal with trouble
   - Can you anticipate where problems can arise?
   - If something goes wrong - what should you do?
• ‘Good business, not business at any price’

Facilitator

Brian Bray, Partner, DLA Phillips Fox

Brian is a partner in the DLA Phillips Fox Lawyers Wellington office and has over 20 years experience. His specialist areas of practice are commercial, business and corporate law. He also advises a wide range of clients in both the private and public sectors on a wide range of commercial matters, including restructuring, corporate governance, director’s duties, and legislative compliance.

Brian has significant experience in drafting, advising on and negotiating commercial contracts, procurement and tendering procedures, outsourcing contracts, service and supply contracts, technology agreements, consultancy agreements, commercialisation of intellectual property rights, licenses, funding agreements and research and development agreements.

Brian also has considerable expertise in public sector procurement for central and local government organisations. He has developed specialist knowledge in public sector and in particular health sector requirements and guidelines for procurement and tendering. Brian’s due diligence experience has been in numerous industry sectors such as financial services (insurance), manufacturing, government entities, distribution and health. As part of due diligence Brian is required to peruse and advise on the implications of a wide range of commercial documents.

Brian has assisted and advised clients in relation to establishing in-house precedents, manuals, formatting, development of procurement guidelines and standardisation of a suite of document precedents. He has given commercial advice to Contract Managers on market practice, best practice and precedent drafting, including a workshop on clear communication through drafting.

Brian has presented at many conferences in New Zealand on contracting related issues and undertakes contracting workshops for clients.

Brian Bray is also facilitating:

• Contracting in the Health Sector
• Negotiating, Drafting & Managing Commercial Contracts

In-house Training