Advocate Mohammad Kamran
- 10+ Years of Legal Experience
- Enrolled with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh
- Certificate of Practice holder
Contract Drafting Lawyer in Lucknow
Agreements drafted so that the difficult situations are dealt with before they arise.
Corporate and Contracts
What this covers
A contract is worth drafting carefully because of the small number of clauses that decide what happens when things go wrong. Scope is one: what exactly is being supplied, and what is not. Payment is another: when it falls due, and what follows if it does not come. Then liability, termination, and the clause naming how a dispute will be resolved and where.
Reviewing an agreement someone else has drafted is a different exercise from drafting one. The document has been written in their interest, which is normal and expected. The task is to identify what it commits you to, what it leaves open, and which of the points worth negotiating are actually likely to be conceded.
Who this may assist
Who this service may assist
If your situation is not listed, it does not mean it cannot be dealt with. It means it should be discussed.
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Businesses issuing agreements
You want a standard form you can use repeatedly with customers or suppliers.
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Businesses receiving agreements
A counterparty has sent a draft and you want it reviewed before signature.
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Professionals and consultants
You need an engagement letter covering scope, fees and confidentiality.
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Parties documenting an existing arrangement
A relationship has been running informally and should be put in writing.
Scope
Typical matters handled
- Supply, service, consultancy and engagement agreements
- Distribution, agency, franchise and referral arrangements
- Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements
- Memoranda of understanding and term sheets, with clarity on what is binding and what is not
- Review of drafts supplied by the other side, with a marked-up version and a note of the points that matter
- Amendments, extensions, novations and termination documents
Process
How the work generally proceeds
The sequence varies with the facts and the forum. This is the usual shape of it.
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Step 01
Understanding the commercial deal
What each side is actually giving and getting, and what would count as failure.
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Step 02
Identifying the risks worth papering
Which risks are real for this transaction, rather than papering everything and producing a document nobody uses.
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Step 03
Drafting the operative clauses
Scope, timelines, payment, liability and indemnity, confidentiality, intellectual property and termination.
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Step 04
Settling the dispute-resolution clause
Court or arbitration, the seat and the governing law, drafted so that it does not itself become the first dispute.
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Step 05
Execution and stamping
Advice on the stamping applicable to the instrument, on who signs and on the authority to sign.
Preparation
Documents commonly required
Bringing what you have makes the first discussion considerably more useful. Missing items can be obtained later.
- A note of the commercial terms already agreed
- Any existing agreement, purchase order or proposal between the parties
- Correspondence recording what has been discussed or promised
- Details of both parties, including constitution and the authority of the signatories
- Existing templates in use, where a standard form is being replaced
- Registration and tax registration details relevant to invoicing
Cautions
Common risks and mistakes
- Vague scopeMost disputes about performance are really disputes about what was in scope. It repays being specific, including about what is excluded.
- No payment consequenceA payment clause with no interest, no suspension right and no termination right leaves late payment costless.
- Copying a foreign templateClauses drawn for another jurisdiction can be unenforceable here, and post-employment restraints are the clearest example.
- An unworkable dispute-resolution clauseA clause that names no seat, no appointing mechanism or an impossible combination becomes the first thing litigated.
- Leaving the agreement unsignedPerformance on an unsigned draft is common and avoidable. Signature, dates and authority all matter later.
See also
Related services
Reading
Related Guides
General information notes on this area. They are not legal advice.
The practice
Advocates
Each advocate of the firm is enrolled with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh and holds a Certificate of Practice.
Advocate Hamid Razzaq
- 15+ Years of Legal Experience
- Enrolled with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh
- Certificate of Practice holder
Advocate Mohd. Mateen
- 20+ Years of Legal Experience
- Enrolled with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh
- Certificate of Practice holder
Questions
Frequently asked questions
As long as the transaction requires and no longer. A short agreement that is read and followed is worth more than a long one that is filed and forgotten. What matters is that the clauses which decide outcomes are present and clear.
It can be. A contract does not always require a formal document, and email exchanges frequently establish binding terms. The difficulty is proving precisely what was agreed, which is the argument a written agreement removes.
Both have advantages and the choice depends on the value of the transaction, who the counterparty is and where they are. What matters most is that the clause is drafted workably, because a defective clause produces a dispute before the real dispute is reached.
A focused review of the clauses that carry the most risk can usually be done quickly. Being pressed to sign immediately is itself worth noting, because it is a common feature of agreements that later cause difficulty.
Where the firm works
Lucknow and Uttar Pradesh Coverage
The firm's office is in Lucknow. Matters arising in other districts of Uttar Pradesh are conducted from Lucknow before the court, tribunal or authority that has jurisdiction over them. There is no branch office elsewhere. Which forum will hear a particular matter depends on its subject, its value and where the cause of action arose, and is confirmed before anything is filed.
This page is general information about an area of practice. It is not legal advice, and it is not an advertisement or a solicitation of work. Reading it creates no advocate–client relationship.
Procedures, limitation periods, court fees, stamp duty and government charges change, and what applies depends on the facts of the particular matter. Nothing here should be acted on without advice on your own documents, and no outcome is promised or predicted.
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