Is a witness signature required? What are the rules for a contract witness? Clients often ask us whether a witness needs to sign an agreement. There are often two spaces on documents for a witness to sign in addition [...]
It looks like in the future courts will decide what a contract means based on what an ordinary reader understands it to mean, rather than by following the traditional laws and rules of interpretation. Article about interpretation Malcolm Wallis recently [...]
Partnerships are legal relationships which are based on contracts where two or more people (or companies) agree to carry on business together with the object of making and sharing profits. Partnerships generally involve an ongoing business relationship. Joint venture partnerships [...]
Cloud contracts are essential for organisations using the cloud. Cloud computing is where an organisation or individual uses remote servers that are hosted on the internet to manage, store and process data. The role of technology in business operations is [...]
It is very important to actually sign contracts that you agree to enter into. There are a number of reasons why this is important for you. Contract negotiations between parties can be a lengthy process. You can invest a lot [...]
You are in discussions with a potential investor, a potential joint venture partner, a licensee or a distributor of your intellectual property. Â Protecting your intellectual property is critical. Â Can you trust them? Â Will they walk away with your intellectual property? [...]
What happens when a group of businesses that all sell the same thing, e.g. bread, get together and decide that they will all charge the same price for bread? Well, the consumer is forced to pay this price because there [...]
Using track changes for agreements is a useful way of negotiating changes to agreements electronically. However, there are some critical points to keep in mind when using this tool. The golden rule is that you must ensure the other party [...]
We often recommend and use a modular approach to drafting documents (like IT contracts, agreements and policies). Akin to building a document out of lego blocks. Not always, but often. It does not suit every agreement nor every offering. We find [...]
Horrible documents and bad legal writing cross my computer screen every day. The same old templates get re-used and circulated over and over, whether they’re agreements, IT contracts, lease agreements, or anything else. We believe that legal documents should be beautiful. [...]
We often get asked what the difference is between "reasonable efforts" and "best efforts". Sometimes they are referred to as "reasonable endeavours" or "best endeavours".  It is often a sticking point in the negotiation of agreements and sometimes causes disputes. [...]
A book called "Plain language, consumerism and reform of South African contract law" has been published. It deals with how the plain language movement and contextualism has reshaped the drafting and interpretation of contracts in South Africa. It is quite [...]
