"Technology, like art, is a soaring exercise of the human imagination"

- Daniel Bell.

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Many of the commercial contracts flying around today are for companies developing some kind of platform. So much out there is now offered as a Software As A Service. There are also legacy Application Service Providers. Then, of course, is the standard End User License Agreements. All of these have their quirks and carve outs and need to customized carefully to your own particular service or product.

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Also, for the modern tech company, itself, there are a host of special issues: data security, confidentiality, intellectual property concerns, privacy. Complying with government regulations, while ensuring you're legally protected if something goes wrong technically, while policing your IP, while protecting your secrets and everyone else's ... I'm getting dizzy just thinking of it here.

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And then you have the peculiar issues faced in commercial contracts if you're an IT infrastructure shop or software developer or even IT consultant. Suppose you have a big fat juicy project to install new tech hardware somewhere or certain kinds of software solutions onsite for a business client. What happens if things don't quite work 100%? How is your contract written? Are you paid by the hour or the milestone? Are their refund or give-back provisions for failed experimental solutions? What if you're just a little bit late in meeting deadlines? What if you're a lotta bit late? What happens if you say you're finished but the client disagrees? What if you estimated the project at 80 hours and it took 120? Can you expect to get paid for that? Especially if, ultimately, you were able to deliver only 85% of client expectations?

 

Having someone with experience drafting these provisions can help you secure superior bargaining position *before* a potential conflict begins.

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