Drafting Business Service Agreements

Companies are increasingly focused on their “core competencies,” outsourcing all other functions – sales, bookkeeping, IT, customer and product support, warranty work – to third party professionals and their companies.  Drafting agreements to capture this work is unlike drafting a conventional employment agreement.  It requires a sophisticated understanding of the service, benchmarks for performance and reporting, and the protection of confidential business information. The underlying agreement must comprehend how all of these elements operate together.  This program will provide you with a practical guide to drafting services agreements in business.  

Schedule:

     •       Drafting services agreements for “hard” and “soft” services 
     •       Scope of services provided, modification of services, and relationship to fees
     •       Performance standards and timeliness of delivery of services 
     •       Types of fee structures and common traps
     •       Ensuring ownership of key files, records, “know how,” customer lists, and trade secrets
     •       Issues related to sub-contracting, designation of agents, and assignment of the contract
     •       Conflicts of interest, limitation of liability, and indemnification