Leaky boilerplate: what can go wrong with boilerplate clauses?
Channel: Richard Stephens
Date: 2022-04-11

I was thrilled to be asked by Sam Roberts of Cooke Young & Keidan to give a talk to the Technology Disputes Network on 17th March 2022. He said he wanted something on black letter law - and suggested boilerplate clauses as a subject. 

Undaunted by the potentially lethally boring nature of the subject matter, I set to and came up with this talk looking at notices clauses, order of precedence clauses and also non-variation clauses. 

Dull? Not at all: it is clauses like these that are the life blood of commercial contracts and it never ceases to amaze me how such dull little clauses tucked away at the back of a contract are often decisive in litigation. 

Meaning - there are many do's and don'ts, things you need to consider and get right at the drafting stage, and also when it comes to a ruck. 

Enjoy!