Question

1. Read the following scenario and answer the question in 5-10 sentences.

You work for RBEY, Inc., a corporation that manufactures wooden furniture. You are a procurement officer, responsible for purchasing raw materials that will be converted in to the furniture. As the main point of contact for suppliers, you have built a relationship with many of them. You routinely negotiate purchase contracts back and forth by e-mail. Your e-mail signature includes your title and the company name under your name. When it is time to finalize a contract, RBEY is the name of the party to the contract, and you sign your name on a line above your typed name, title, and company name. A friend of yours, who has a little knowledge of contract law, asks how you can possibly sign your name to the contract without including the term “as agent for RBEY.” Explain how you can avoid personal liability on the contracts even without adding this phrase.

Answer 1

Answer: There are several way, we can avoid personal liability on the procurement contracts, even without including the term “as agent for RBEY.” Those are stated below: We should avoid verbal promises, as verbal agreements are typically binding contracts, if it includes offer, acceptance and consideration, as here, there is no paper documentation, thus, it would be hard to prove, what are expected from such agreements, and such can bring contract dispute, again, there should be Integration clause within the contract document, the purpose to provide Integration cause is the contract depicting entire agreement between the two party, for any changes, there would be formal procedure to add addendum and include Contract terms with Dates and signature from both party Carefully analyze the contract with respective Lawyer and be always alert for the Indemnification Clause in the Procurement Contract, in case, there is no indemnification, then Individual party is responsible for their own work, indemnity liability can be protected with taking Indemnity insurance, Consult with the lawyer to find various Liability waiver and know the consequences and validity of such liability waiver before including within the contract, again the liability waiver must be legible and highlighted to understand easily, should not bring any further contract dispute, thus, consulting with lawyer is essential, Contract should be reviewed by taking help from Contract attorney and this must be done before signing the contract, in case of any disagreement, this situation should be carefully managed and we should look for a way to negotiate with proper resolution, As procurement Contract between the supplier and Buyer Organization, can be for long time, with the help of Lawyer, we should look for way to negotiate some better contract terms, which will help us to reduce or limit unnecessary contract liability, Within the contract document, there should not be any blank spaces, which can increase future liability, Fraud happening and such thing can increase dispute as well