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Why Should I Pay Attention to The Notices Provision in My Contract

On Behalf of | Nov 4, 2019 | Firm News

If you are a business owner engaging in a partnership, joint venture, or other entrepreneurial arrangement involving multiple parties, the importance of a solid and fair business contract cannot be overstated.
In this age of constant electronic communication, one section of your contract might seem redundant or silly to flesh out: the notices section. While conventional wisdom might have you gloss over or completely ignore that passage, it is important to create a fair and unambiguous notices provision to avoid opening yourself up to unnecessary friction with your partner.

An effective notices provision lays out the manner in which you and your business partner will communicate about contractual matters. If negotiated fairly, it will stymie future disputes and provide everyone with clear instructions on how to handle disputes should they prove to be unavoidable.

For example, what if your business partner wishes to dissolve her relationship with the company? How would she go about doing that? How should you be notified? How much time should lapse before her divorce from the business is presumed to be final?

Just because you and your partner have constantly emailed back and forth about prior business matters, that doesn’t mean she will automatically compose a clear, concise, and cordial message communicating her intent to separate from your business agreement – especially if your professional relationship has soured for some reason.

A smartly composed notices provision will specify the manner in which a termination notice should be properly handled by both parties.

Hopefully, you and your business partners will exchange many positive notices before a termination notice is eventually sent. A robust notices provision will spell out the proper way to amend any part of your business contract, or it could set guidelines for how new business proposals are considered.

Effective communication is important in any professional setting; it is doubly so when operating a business with one or more partners. A good notices provision will clearly state what communication is considered legally binding in a business relationship.

If more entrepreneurs pay the same amount of attention and care to the notices provisions in their contracts as they do the rest of the document, there would undoubtedly be fewer ugly disputes between business partners.

We’re here to help you and your business thrive, and that means scrutinizing every fine detail. If you need guidance on composing your joint venture’s notices provision, call us to speak to an attorney at DeWitt Law.

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