The Cost of Advice v. The Cost of a Catastrophe

You probably wouldn't buy a house without a survey. You probably wouldn't invest six figures without due diligence. Yet, every day, growing businesses like yours sign complex contracts worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds after only a quick skim.

Why? Because legal reviews feel like a costly delay. We’re here to tell you that this mindset is a false economy. Spending money on a proper contract review isn't a cost centre; it’s an essential profit protector. It’s proactive value, designed to catch the expensive surprises before they blow up your finances.

A standard commercial contract isn't just about price and term. It's a legal document often packed with financial landmines hidden in technical jargon. Here are the three most common time bombs we pull out of client contracts:

1. The Indemnity Clause

This is perhaps the most dangerous clause for any contract party. An indemnity is essentially a promise to reimburse the other party for a specific loss.

The Danger: Many standard supplier contracts include broad indemnities that require you to cover all of their costs - including legal fees - if a particular event happens (like an IP infringement claim). If the indemnity clause is unlimited and uncapped, you are essentially signing a blank cheque.

The Fix: Where appropriate, we insist on mutual indemnities (so they cover you too). Crucially, we also fight for your liability under indemnities to be expressly subject to the overall limitation of liability clause or a “super cap” on liability where required. This ring-fences your financial exposure, preventing a single legal issue from bankrupting your business.

2. The One-Sided Termination Clause

You need to know how you can get out of a contract, but it’s just as important that you know how the other side can exit and on what terms.

The Danger: A lot of standard contracts are one-sided, giving the larger party the right to terminate for convenience (i.e., for any reason, or no reason at all) often with minimal notice (e.g., 30 days or less). This exposes your revenue stream to the whims of your counterparty, usually leaving you little time to replace the income.

The Fix: We ensure the contract provides adequate notice periods that reflect commercial reality.

3. Scope Creep

The contract is supposed to define the scope of work. If it's vague, you are setting yourself up to do more for free.

The Danger: Vague wording like "all necessary support" or "reasonable assistance" leaves the door wide open for the client to demand endless extras without additional fees. This phenomenon, known as scope creep, is a massive drain on profitability and team morale.

The Fix: We ensure appropriate change control mechanism so that any request outside the defined scope must be handled via a formal process that results in a documented amendment and a mutually agreed fee adjustment. This protects your team's time and your profit margins.

Cutting costs on your contract reviews is always a false economy

A review from a commercially minded lawyer takes hours, not months. The fees are always a tiny fraction of the potential costs associated with an unlimited indemnity, a sudden termination, or a major scope dispute.

Ready to stop signing blindly and start negotiating from a position of strength? We cut through the jargon to tell you exactly what risks you’re facing, why they matter, and how to change them. Let us review your next big deal.