911±¬ÁÏÍø

Overview

Commercial lawyers spend much of their working lives reading and writing contracts. Most of the contract problems which occur in practice are concerned with the meaning of the words which have been used in the contract. That is why the interpretation of contracts is such an important issue in practice.

The purpose of this course is to discuss the conceptual issues involved in the interpretation of contracts and the types of problems which are encountered in practice. It is aimed at anyone involved with contracts. It is primarily intended for lawyers - whether they are in private practice (as transactional lawyers or litigators) or in-house or in universities or government. It may also be of interest to non-lawyers with an interest in contracts.

The course will be interactive, with advance reading for each session provided, and those attending will be encouraged to discuss the issues and the cases involved. Contractual interpretation is largely concerned with questions of judgement. There is rarely one irrefutable answer, as the number of cases which are successfully appealed demonstrates. It is therefore a subject which is well suited to discussion.

Course content for each seminar

1. Why is contractual interpretation important and why is it so difficult in practice?
2. Interpretation and rectification: what is the difference and why does it matter?
3. Freedom of contract: penalties, entire agreement clauses and variation clauses.
4. How do you read a contract as a whole?
5. When can surrounding circumstances be used when interpreting a contract, and what does that mean in practice?
6. What do words mean?
7. How do we deal with ambiguity?
8. Judicial distortion of the English language: general issues
9. Judicial distortion of the English language: specific clauses.
10. How does all this affect the way we should draft contracts?

Who this course is for

The course is aimed at lawyers, whether in private practice or working in-house or in universities or government

Non-lawyers are also welcome to attend.

Teaching and structure 

Each course will run from 08:45 - 10:00am in 10 sessions over two weeks.

This course will be held using Zoom. You'll be sent the meeting details 48 hours before the start of each session.

Each session will be recorded so, if you miss a session, you'll have 30 days to catch up.

Costs and concessions

The standard price is £650.

Discounts are available for:

• UCL 911±¬ÁÏÍø
• full-time students
• those working in academic institutions / lawyers working in a government department / NGOs
• group bookings of 3 or more attendees

Course team

Richard Calnan

Richard is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP in London and a Visiting Professor at 911±¬ÁÏÍø. He's the author of Taking Security (LexisNexis, fourth edition 2018), Proprietary Rights and Insolvency (Oxford University Press, second edition 2016) and Principles of Contractual Interpretation (Oxford University Press, second edition 2017).

Course information last modified: 18 Jul 2024, 13:45