On 7 May we launched our series on ‘Contractual performance issues’ for businesses to survive lockdown and plan for the future.
We aim to help businesses address key issues to ensure that they are in the best possible position to continue to operate when we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis.
Our five previous guides dealt with:
- whether contract amendments agreed during lockdown are legally binding (a copy can be found here);
- how duress and undue influence might make a contract unenforceable (a copy can be found here);
- the enforcement of informal arrangements and the doctrine of estoppel (a copy can be found here);
- whether contracts can be terminated if Covid-19 or government sanctions prevent performance (a copy can be found here); and
- whether a court will force a party to perform contractual obligations (a copy can be found here).
In the sixth guidance published today we look at whether courts will uphold multi-tiered dispute resolution clauses during lockdown. You will find a copy here.
If you have any queries regarding commercial contracts, not limited to the points covered by our guidance notes series, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our Dispute Resolution team.
We have also created an initiative called “LS Unlock” to help businesses access legal advice during these difficult times. This initiative has been designed specifically to assist clients in this uncertain economic climate and is part of our commitment to working with clients to survive the Covid-19 crisis.
The courts will enforce a ‘multi-tiered’ or ‘escalation’ dispute resolution clause in a commercial contract and it will be rare for the steps set out in such a clause to be impossible to perform because of the Covid-19 pandemic or restrictions imposed by the government.
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