Corporate Services

The ability to negotiate better commercial contracts for the purchase or sale of goods and services creates substantial savings and improved profit margins that benefit the client’s bottom line and get boardroom-level attention. Among our Am Law 200 peers, the Quarles & Brady Commercial Law Team is one of the few established groups dedicated to preparing, negotiating and managing commercial contracts.

Our Commercial Law Team brings knowledge, business experience, focus and skill to the preparation, negotiation and management of commercial contracts and supply chain issues that is unusual among law firms large or small. We help advance our clients’ business goals, whether short-term or long-term, and our clients value our deep understanding of their business as well as our legal advice.

We start with the basics about the business deal and the client’s goals, and we work closely with the business team and in-house legal team to identify the most efficient, cost-effective ways to proceed. We regularly advise our clients on best practices in managing the contracting, procurement and outsourcing processes.

We have trained our Team on complex commercial contract and supply chain issues, including the long-term implications of an agreement and understanding how seemingly small details can affect the overall benefit the client is trying to achieve. Our Team members focus on a full range of contract issues, including business terms, UCC, e-commerce, antitrust, intellectual property, technology, data protection, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and other international issues and on how to resolve disputes that arise under existing contracts.

Our clients are as varied as the types of commercial work we do for them, from smaller, precision manufacturing clients to multinational giants. We prepare, negotiate and revise hundreds of commercial agreements for them every year, and this provides us a diverse perspective and a range of approaches to strategy, drafting and negotiation from which our clients benefit. Our flexibility makes us better counselors to them.

Our commercial lawyers have practical experience in any number of areas, including:

• Preparing and negotiating major supply agreements for commodity and non-commodity purchases, often with values in excess of $100 million over the contract term, for numerous clients. 
• Reviewing, developing and negotiating myriad other commercial contracts for a diverse client base, including transportation, energy, independent contractor, technology, e-commerce, consulting, confidentiality, non-compete, distributor, franchise and sales representative agreements. 
• Undertaking the review and revision of form contracts and internal contract management procedures for the purchase or sale of goods. 
• Representing clients in procurement contracting negotiations with international entities, including Chinese, European and South American businesses. 
• Conducting in-depth analyses of individual procurement industries and competitive suppliers while accounting for a client’s unique perspective. 
• Providing clients with “best practice” guidance on an array of issues related to purchasing, such as the advisability of “most favored nation,” alternate dispute resolution and choice of law provisions.  
• Developing and negotiating numerous long-term manufacturing, fulfillment and outsourcing agreements, including international outsourcing agreements. 
• Providing internal client training sessions regarding contracting practices, such as the use of form contracts and allocation of the risk of loss. 
• Working with our Technology Law Team colleagues to incorporate technology law provisions that address software licensing, website development and hosting, and data privacy and security issues, to name only a few.

For more information about how Quarles & Brady can help you with your commercial law needs, please contact Jessica Franken at (414) 277-3045 / (602) 230-5520,  or your local Quarles & Brady attorney.