Negotiating and Writing Up the Terms of the Contract – A Checklist of Considerations

YOUR NJ CONTRACT CHECKLIST

Before Creating and Then Signing a Contract, Here are Some Basic Considerations to Think About:

Don’t just sign anything put in front of you. Read it… Look for ambiguities, terms that are vague and imprecise. What about context? Believe me, context does matter.

When getting into a substantial contract of any type (business, consumer, real estate, construction, etc.), think about the specific purposes to be achieved under the contract. Identify and itemize as many of your objectives as possible and be sure to recite them in the contract.

Establish with precise clarity the price to be paid for its performance and any counter-offer that may be given. Do this in the negotiations before you write up the contract.

Be sure you also clearly establish the terms of any financing, including the amount of any down payment, interest rate(s), dates for each installment payment, length of payment period, prepayments, contingencies for defaults and performance standards.

Identify and list both foreseeable and/or unforeseeable events that could interfere with the performance of the contract, such as weather conditions, commodity price fluctuations, pandemics (think coronavirus), labor slowdowns, stoppages, increases in material costs (i.e., oil, gasoline) are the most frequent examples.

Recite what the economic and/or legal consequences will be to either party should there be a breach of the contract.

When all these issues have been considered, they should be discussed with an experienced and qualified NJ contract law attorney to decide if they are important enough to include in your contract. Often a NJ businessman or NJ businesswoman gets himself/herself into a contract and then is unable to get out of it but expects their attorney to do it for them. That’s not going to happen… or at least happen easily.

Once a valid contract has been made in New Jersey, often there is not much an attorney can do, unless he/she can anticipate and prepare for potential issues in the draft document, and before both parties to the contract sign it.

Now That You Have a General Understanding of Contracts You Need to Know the Following:

Contracts are governed by New Jersey statutes and case law. The following subheadings will be addressed to help you understand how NJ law looks at contracts.

To learn more about the law on “offer and acceptance”,
Go to The offer and acceptance.

Fredrick P. Niemann Esq.

If you have any questions about New Jersey contract law or how your contract measures up to what I’ve written, please contact me at fniemann@hnlawfirm.com or call me toll-free at (855) 376-5291. I welcome your inquiries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NJ Contract Law Attorney serving these New Jersey Counties:

Monmouth County, Ocean County, Essex County, Cape May County, Camden County, Mercer County, Middlesex County,
Bergen County, Morris 
County, Burlington County, Union County, Somerset County, Hudson County, Passaic County