here’s the secret that will drastically minimize risk in your international contract
DESCRIPTION
Santiago Cueto, from the Cueto Law Group, explains how to drastically reduce risk in your international contracts. What do you ask during the contract drafting process to make sure you are protected in international business? Which are the most overlooked items in the drafting process? Mr. Cueto answers all these and more.TRANSCRIPT
Here’s the Secret that will Drastically Minimize Risk in Your
International Contract.LILLY + Associates guest post by Santiago Cueto of the Cueto Law Group
Presence, whether physical or virtual is the secret ingredient here.
While physical presence is preferred, collaborative technologies such as Skype, make it easy for the counter-party to have a virtual presence for purposes of reviewing a contract.
Review Each Provision with All Parties Present.
In drafting international contracts, the best practice is to go through each contract provision with each party present.
This is particularly important when the parties speak different languages.
Examples of What to Ask:
• “Do you understand that you are assuming the responsibility for packing these goods according to our shipper’s instructions?”
• “Do you understand that you are responsible for ensuring that these good remain refrigerated between the points of transport?”
• “Do you understand that you are responsible for supplying accurate information for ISF 10 + 2 and other regulatory requirements?
Common Overlooked Items:
The most commonly overlooked provisions in an international contract include transportation surcharges, testing fees, pre-shipment inspection, quality control, and even INCOTERMs.
Reviewing each provision with the parties will drastically minimize any errors or omissions that may have been missed while the contract was being negotiated.
Extra Protection
If you’re concerned that misunderstandings over performance are likely, you may want to have each party initial all or some paragraphs, and it is best practice to have each party initial every page.
Many multinational contracts have every paragraph initialed after the parties have spent weeks negotiating the contract through interpreters.
Hiring an Attorney
Given the increasing complexity of international contracts, it’s highly recommended that the parties consult an international business attorney to draft the contract.
It’s a small price to pay to make sure that multi-million dollar deal the parties negotiated is successfully executed.
About the AuthorBoard Certified International Attorney and founding partner Santiago A. Cueto focuses his practice on international business law with an emphasis on class action and international commercial litigation, arbitration and transactions. His practice is based in Miami, Florida.
As a prominent Miami Florida attorney, He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, CNBC, Forbes, the National Law Journal, PC World, the Daily Business Review, the Los Angeles Business Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, Entrepreneur, and many other media outlets.
Santiago has represented Fortune 100 companies and foreign governments in a variety of complex commercial litigation and transactions matters.
Santiago’s international education and experience has served to counsel companies operating throughout the world. He currently serves as executive counsel to companies in the global supply and communications industries.