Talking Law

Talking Law


[EP 099] Coronavirus Implications on Commercial Contracts and Force Majeure Clauses

March 23, 2020

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The coronavirus outbreak has not given us an advantageous start to the year. As of today there are 198,394 reported coronavirus cases, 7,981 deaths and 165 countries and territories around the world have been affected and these numbers are increasing rapidly. With cities in lockdown, travel restrictions in place and global trade in a mess, its fair to say that this outbreak has had a massive effect on businesses worldwide. 
So in this episode, we have on board Robyn Purdy from our very own Aspect Legal, to discuss the implications of the coronavirus outbreak on commercial contracts and in particular Force Majeure clauses. We look at what you need to be focusing on in supply contracts where supply is now or might in the future be an issue. We also look at proactive steps you can be taking right now to get on the front foot to protect your organisation.








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Episode Highlights:

* Why are we talking about this?
* What is in a Force Majeure Clause?
* Why we should pay attention to Force Majeure Clauses
* What do Force Majeure Clauses cover?
* Examples of when force majeure clauses can create huge issues for an organisation
* Pull out your contracts out look over your Force Majeure Clause
* How to get on the front foot when dealing with uncertainties in your contracts
* Tips to take aways






Transcript below!
Note: This has been automatically transcribed so will be full of errors! We are not providing it to you as a word-perfect version of the podcast but just as an easy way to provide you with a different way to be able to see or scan what kind of information that might be relevant to you if you are the kind of person that likes a transcript.
Joanna: Hi, it's Joanna Oakey here and welcome back to Talking Law. A podcast proudly brought to you by our commercial legal practice Aspect Legal. Now today we are talking about a topic that you may have heard a little bit about unless you have been bunkered down on some sort of bomb shelter for the last few months, the coronavirus. I know everyone who's talking about coronavirus at the moment, but what we want to do here at aspect legal is be beacons of light, positivity, but also information because we know we moving into unchartered territory at the moment and a position locally, but also globally where things are really uncertain and this obviously has a massive impact on business. Now today we are going to talk particularly about the implications of coronavirus on commercial contracts, but into the future we're actually going to be releasing a number of episodes that talk all about the implications of coronavirus on businesses as a whole.
Why are we talking about this?
Joanna: And so stay tuned for future episodes where we look at different strategies that businesses can put into place and different things that businesses should be aware of. And we really going to be looking at focusing in a positive l...