Commercial Contracts
The term commercial law describes a wide body of laws that govern business transactions. The primary authority that governs commercial transactions is the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). By definition, commercial contracts represent a combination of commercial and legal factors. For businesses and organizations, the key requirement is to ensure that the legal arrangements allow the full commercial benefits to be realized. This is FindLaw’s collection of Commercial Contracts articles, part of the Business Operations section of the Corporate Counsel Center. Law articles in this archive are predominantly written by lawyers for a professional audience seeking business solutions to legal issues. Start your free research with FindLaw.
Business Operations
Commercial Contracts Articles
-
How Do Contractual Relationships Affect a Firm’s Ability To Compete?
Reprinted From Houston Business Journal, May 7, 2004 Identifying, pursuing, and securing new business and a skilled work force are essential to the growth and prosperity of any business. However, your ability to compete for either may be directly ...
Read More » -
How not to go Dark at a Shopping Center: Advice for Tenants (and Hope for Landlords)
Landlords and major retail tenants frequently argue about including "continuous operations" provisions in their leases. These provisions make it an affirmative obligation of the tenant to stay open for business, subject to whatever limitations are ...
Read More » -
How Not to Hire Employees from a Competitor
A major retailer recently learned the hard way how not to hire a strong-performing employee from a competitor. In a recent decision from a Virginia Circuit Court, James, Ltd. v. Saks Fifth Avenue, Inc., et al., Saks was hit with a $1.6 million ...
Read More » -
How Safe Is Your Child’s Swingset or Playground
Several years ago, Connecticut Trial Lawyer's Association hired an independent playground expert to examine 25 school and park playgrounds around Connecticut. The results were alarming. There were 520 instances of equipment that could strangle ...
Read More » -
How to Write Readable Credit Forms
Introduction PlanningComposingDesigningTesting and EvaluatingIntroduction If your company offers consumer credit, you probably communicate with your customers using many different standardized forms and notices. These may range from short notices to ...
Read More » -
I Thought We Had A Deal
We all heard this before: "In the good old days, we just shook hands and we had a deal." Today, many people do not believe that a handshake is enough to enter into a contract. In the eyes of the law, however, for most contracts, a handshake or words ...
Read More » -
If You Use A Shrinkwrap License It May Not Be Enforceable: Mass Market Software & The Shrinkwrap License
Ever since mass market computer software has been developed computer software companies have relied upon the shrinkwrap license for protection of their intellectual property rights. A shrinkwrap license is an unsigned agreement between the purchaser ...
Read More » -
Ignorance is not Bliss:The Danger of “Hidden” Franchises
Franchising is used in a wide variety of business arrangements in over 70 different business sectors--from employment agencies to quick service restaurants to telecommunications services. As such, franchises assume many different forms. Frequently ...
Read More » -
Illinois Appellate Court Invalidates Handbook Disclaimers
In 1987, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Duldulao v. St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital Center that under certain circumstances, promises contained in employee handbooks, manuals, or policies could be enforceable "implied employment contracts ...
Read More » -
Incorporating Dispute Resolution by Use of Flow Down Clause
Seemingly every contract in use in the construction industry today, especially as between a general contractor ("GC") and a subcontractor or a sub and a sub-sub, uses what is known as a flow down clause--a contract provision by which the parties ...
Read More »