Drafting Commercial Agreements, 5th Edition

For the 5th edition of Drafting Commercial Agreements the commentary and precedents have been updated to take account of current legislation, case law and practice. In particular the fifth edition has considered the following new developments:

LEGISLATION:

• New EU legislation, including the Directive on Consumer Rights (2011) (creating new regimes for distance and off-premises contracts and amendments to the Unfair Contract Terms and Guarantee Directives, and to the general law governing consumer contracts)
• The latest Block Exemption for Vertical Agreements (2010) (with its effect on agency and distribution agreements)
• The Directive on Late Payment  for Commercial Transactions (2011)
• The Commission’s latest proposals (in 2013)  for a Directive on civil damages for infringements of the EU antitrust rules (together with recommendations that member states institute collective redress procedures for such infringements)
• Changes to the Technology Transfer Block Exemption (2004)
• Developments in employment law, including abolition of the retirement age, new proposals on directors’ remuneration (particularly under the Enterprise and Regulatory form Act 2013) and the current position on dealing with pension funds in deficit
• The new regime for registration of charges under the Companies Acts brought in from April 2013

It also covers changes to UK Competition Law, including the new regulatory framework under the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, and its impact on mergers, acquisitions, anticompetitive agreements and the cartel offence), the current UK position on damages for breach of the Competition Act, 1998 (as discussed in Devenish v Sanofi-Aventis and Albion Water v Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig) and the latest position on land agreements brought under the Competition Act since 2010.

CASE LAW COVERAGE:

• Confidentiality - public domain, springboard, employees’ confidentiality obligations, equitable remedies,  particularly Vestergaard Frandsen A/S v Bestnet, Tokio Marine v Yang, Force India  v 1 Malaysia Racing (CA), Romero v Templeton, White Digital Media v Weaver, Customer Systems v Ransom (CA),Ashcourt Rowan v Hall
• Negligence – liability for economic loss (VL v Oxfordshire, Wooldridge v Torridge, An Informer v Chief Constable (CA) , Home Office v Mohammed (CA),Glaister v Appleby (CA), Patchett v Allied Trades (CA), Desmond v Chief Constable (CA), Cooperative Group v Birse) and reconsideration of basis of  liability for personal injury – Selwood v Durham (CA), Woodland v Swimming Teachers Association (CA), Everett v Comojo (CA), Bhamra v Dubb (CA).
• Whole agreement clauses - Axa (CA), Springwell (CA) and Shoreline (CA)
• Construction of contracts -  Estafnous v London & Leeds (CA), Scottish widows v BGC (CA), Bhatia v Tour (CA), Cherry Tree (CA), Johnson (CA), Sea Fishing Authority (UKSC), Lloyds Foundation v Lloyds Bank (UKSC) and Durham v BAI (UKSC)
• Other cases - Deutsche Bank v Khan, Transworld v Bombardier (UCTA and conflict of laws), Jet2.com v Blackpool (reasonable and best endeavours), Rooney v Bournemouth (ticket cases), GHSP v AB Electronics (battle of the forms), Yam Seng v ITC (possibility of implied terms of good faith in commercial agreements) Francotyp-Postalia  v Whitehead (blue pencil test) Autoclenz v Belcher (UKSC) definition of independent contractor)