Our Service Contracts Service
In a UK economy dominated by the service industries, contracts governing the provision of services are of key importance.
For service providers, having a standard contract for the supply of services is essential. This contract can take the form of standard terms and conditions, a master service agreement, or a terms of engagement letter. Its primary purpose is to clearly define the service provider's responsibilities, liabilities, and potential financial risks. At the same time, it ensures that customer relationships remain valuable.
Similarly, for businesses receiving services, a well-written contract is crucial. This contract should include service quality levels, giving the customer the necessary tools to ensure timely and high-quality services without extra expenses. Additionally, it should offer remedies like compensation claims or the option to terminate the contract if issues arise.
Our Service Agreement solicitors have many years of experience and knowledge in successfully preparing and negotiating contracts for services that commercially work in practice work for clients, including in the following specific areas:
- Agreements for the provision of professional services, including letters of terms of engagement;
- Agreements for the provision of IT services, Software-as-a-Service, R&D services, manufacturing services, connectivity and telecommunication services;
- Contracts for supply of marketing, media, advertising, PR and business consultancy services;
- Agreements for the provision of recruitment/search and selection services and the supply of temporary workers by employment agencies and employment businesses;
- Consultancy agreements, including those entered into using personal service companies and similar models;
- Sub-contracting arrangements
- Outsourcing arrangements.
- Agreements for the provision of training and educational services
- Agreements for the provision of financial services.
Addressing Key Matters in Service Agreements
Our Service Agreement lawyers can provide advice on the range of matters which should be addressed in an agreement for the provision of services, including:
- the specification of the service and warranties in respect of service standards and service levels;
- impact of non-performance (including where the parties use service levels and service credits for performance management);
- the duration of the agreement, notice period, and each party’s rights of termination;
- ownership and use of intellectual property rights arising in connection with the performance of the services;
- application of TUPE in relation to employees and restrictions on poaching staff and other appropriate restrictive covenants;
- confidentiality and announcements
- the basis for calculating and adjusting payments and payment terms;
- change of control, variation of contract, insurance and continuity arrangements;
- caps and exclusions of liability, and other methods of allocating contractual risks, such as the use of indemnities and force majeure
Additionally, when entering into a service contract, there are situations where it may involve the transfer of employment for individuals who were previously engaged in providing those services, whether they are employees of the customer or the previous supplier.
At Myerson Solicitors, our commercial and employment specialists collaborate closely to guide clients through the challenges associated with such transfers.
Expertise in Service Agreements
At Myerson Solicitors, our team of commercial solicitors possesses a wealth of experience in dealing with service agreements across various sectors. Here are a few examples of our expertise:
- Professional service terms and conditions. Our commercial (and construction) specialists have advised on the general terms of engagement used by providers of medical services (including GPs and dentists), design and engineering services, estate agents and the providers of property sourcing businesses. We have guided our clients on issues arising from the use of standard terms in respect of consumer customers, and appropriate methods to control contractual exposure for professional service providers.
- Marketing and social media management terms and conditions. Our commercial team have drafted standard business T&Cs for various large regional and national marketing and social media management providers. Our expertise in this sector enables us to draft terms and conditions that cater for the various social media management services provided, including pay-per-click, influencer marketing, and website design and development.
- Consultancy services terms and conditions. Our commercial lawyers have drafted standard terms and conditions for both providers and clients of consultancy services. We have acted for a large provider of care consultancy services and drafted standard terms and conditions which cater for the combined delivery of their consultancy services with their case management SaaS offering.
Why Work With Our Commercial Team
- We provide a partner-led service to ensure you receive the best commercial legal advice and support.
- We have a large and proactive commercial team which can meet your deadlines.
- You will receive city-quality commercial legal advice and commercial services at regional prices.
- As part of a full-service commercial law firm, our commercial solicitors work closely with our Dispute Resolution, Employment, and Commercial Property departments to provide our clients with a seamless service.
- We have been ranked as a Top Tier law firm by the Legal 500 for the last seven years and recognised as a Top 200 Law Firm in 2022.
- Our commercial solicitors are easy to deal with and understand that a common-sense approach is often required.
- We give our clients an estimate of the costs involved in undertaking any work at the outset and provide cost updates regularly.
- We understand that each matter is unique to your circumstances and that you need support from a commercial lawyer experienced in dealing with various clients and types of work.
- We are a full-service law firm operating from a one-site office, which means our teams communicate effectively and efficiently.
- Our commercial team use the latest technology to ensure that we are working as efficiently as possible and that geographical distance does not prevent us from providing excellent legal advice and client service.
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Our Costs
We will provide you with a flexible menu of fee options rooted in our promise of complete transparency over our charges. We assess the value of each project, task, or advice based on its commercial value to you and then provide you with fee options scoped against the type of service and advice you require.
Fee options can include, where appropriate, fixed fees, a retainer, hourly or day rates, or a blend of such options.
We provide you with regular cost updates and will not incur any additional charges without your agreement.
To find out more about the services we can provide, including our retainer service, please give us a call.
Meet Our Commercial Solicitors
Home-grown or recruited from national, regional or City firms. Our specialists are experts in their fields and respected by their peers.
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If you have any more questions or would like more information, please get in touch with our team below.