Businesses should make a practice of incorporating standard terms and conditions into each of their primary contracts. Standard terms commonly address and resolve problems that occurred in previous transactions. This “boilerplate” language can help protect the business’ rights, limits its liability and reduce the risk of lawsuits.
Standard terms and conditions are generally enforceable except where law restricts their application or where the party drafting the terms has an unfair advantage or engages in “overreaching.”
Standard terms and conditions have been used to accomplish a wide variety of purposes including, but not limited to, the following: identifying the parties, terms of service, payment schedules and late-payment penalties, confidentiality, intellectual property rights, title and risk of loss, limitations on liability, limitations of warranties, choice of law provisions, alternative dispute resolution procedures, indemnification, lawyers’ fees, breach, and right to cure.
Standard terms and conditions do not have to be long-winded or involve complicated legalese. They can be succinct and to-the-point. The important thing is that they address the needs of the business and/or transaction.
Denver Business Lawyers have extensive experience drafting standard terms in business contracts. Call us today at (303) 500-1484 for a free consultation.