ABSTRACT
In this book we have laid emphasis on the things lawyers need to be aware of when planning contracts. Lawyers are most often in the news in connection with high profile and high value litigation. Because of this we may lose sight of the fact that a large number of lawyers devote their time solely to transactional matters, the essence of which is advising their clients on the most appropriate structure of a proposed transaction, understanding and clarifying their client’s commercial objectives in connection with that transaction and translating into an agreed form of contract the terms of business agreed between the parties. Part of the lawyer’s role will be to ensure that, so far as is possible, there are built into the contract adequate safeguards for their client in the event things later go wrong in that business relationship. The lawyer’s objective will be to ensure that, in the event such difficulties do arise, the client will have a sufficient armoury of legal arguments and remedies to enable them to deal with problems in the most commercially sensible way. It is therefore in this context that we need to understand the necessary overlap between prudent commercial planning by the lawyer and client and a proper appreciation of legal remedies.
