Free Business Forms and Legal Documents

Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADR is the phrase widely used nowadays to describe a method of resolving disputes without going to court. This free document gives you background information about ADR and arbitration.

Arbitration is a method of settling disputes between parties to a contract without having recourse to the courts.  The clause in the contract which provides for arbitration is usually referred to by lawyers as "the Arbitration Agreement".

If there is no arbitration clause then, unless the parties otherwise agree, in the event of a dispute, either of them may start proceedings in the courts.

It is usual for parties to have a contract to determine whether they will permit each other to assign their respective rights or transfer their respective obligations to third parties; in the absence of any specific provision in the contract, the usual rule is that whilst it may be permissible for a party to assign its rights under a contract, it is not permissible for that party to transfer its obligations under a contract to a third party without the consent of the other members of the agreement.

This free guidance document gives information on this process and is useful to contractors in the construction industry.

This document contains a number of clauses which are routinely incorporated in agreements prepared for use in England and other common law countries.

This free note explains the contracting out procedure when a landlord is granting a new lease of business premises and wants to exclude the security of tenure provisions of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 that could otherwise protect the tenant at the end of the lease.

This free document goes in detail through the matters you need to consider when entering into a Joint Venture.

It is designed to work with our documents such as the Heads of Agreement but it will be useful to anyone drawing up such an agreement from ContractStore or elsewhere.

This free document goes in detail through the matters you need to consider when drawing up a Shareholder's Agreement.

It fits closely with our Shareholder's Agreement contract template but it will be useful to anyone drawing up such an agreement from ContractStore or elsewhere.

Summary note on the main requirements of the EU Regulations concerning the appointment of a Commercial Agent, as adopted by the UK Government.

This free document summarises the UK legislation which requires contracts for construction operations to contain certain terms including those relating to payment, suspension and adjudication.  The law was originally passed in 1996 and changes take effect from 1 October 2011.

This is a PDF Pamphlet on Starting a Business - with Legal Tips from ContractStore's legal experts.

It introduces what you need to know for setting up - taxes, company structure, naming your business, and of course the legal documents and info that you need to put in place to establish your company.

This article gives you some tips on doing business in the United States if you are new to the country. It is written by Derek Devgun, a United States lawyer.

This free article explores the implications of new legislation allowing employees new rights to ask for unpaid time off for training.

This short Employment Contract Checklist covers the main points you need to make sure you consider when entering into an employer-employee relationship. It is designed to complement our Employment Contract Templates.

This free document is designed for UK use but will be relevant anywhere.

When writing an employment contract it is necessary to take account of the relevant legislation. This free note sets out the basic requirements for employment contracts in the UK. It is designed to assist users of our Employment Contract Templates.

It contains

• a checklist of necessary contract terms
• information on a range of employment related topics

New customers will be asked to register to download this document - click Add to Basket and follow the links.

"Force Majeure" means "greater force". Force majeure clauses are used in some European legal systems to excuse a party from liability if some unforseen event beyond the control of that party prevents it from performing its obligations under the contract.

Force majeure clauses generally apply to natural disasters or other "Acts of God", war, or the failure of third parties - such as suppliers and subcontractors - to meet their obligations.

This free download explores the issues surrounding the use of such clauses in a contract.

In a transaction with no foreign element involved it will not usually be necessary to specify the system of law which is to govern the transaction or the courts which are to have jurisdiction in the event of a dispute.  However, where any one or more of the following foreign elements are involved in a transaction, the parties would be well advised to consider governing law and jurisdiction issues.

This Free download gives guidance on Governing Law and Jurisdiction clauses and usage.

Users of contract templates with an international element will benefit from this guidance. These can include our Chinese Contracts, US documents, Agents and Distributor Agreements, and any others with cross-border application.

This free guidance document provides detailed notes on the legal entity of Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) established in the UK by the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000.

All our contract templates contain blank spaces.  This free document contains some hints on filling in those blank spaces and using our documents.

Bear in mind that different countries have different rules, so if in doubt check with a local lawyer before finalising the contract. Or you can ask us to help - see Legal Services for more details.

We also have info in this video.

This article deals with the risks for companies that are required to provide on-demand bonds in support of contracts in the international market and offers some suggestions on how to mitigate those risks. It is written by ContractStore's founder, Giles Dixon and Georg Goesswein, a German lawyer. 

This free 24-page document, supplied to ContractStore by Cantium Consulting Ltd will help you with the preparation of a Business Plan.

Written by Andrew Bradley of Cantium Consulting Limited, this free guidance document is in PDF format. It covers the basics for deciding what company structure to use and takes you through the processes needed when running a limited company.

Our Business Structures section contains the useful contract templates you'll need to set up a business.