Commercial Contracts
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Commercial Contracts

Well-drafted contracts create predictability and reduce risk. Bull has extensive experience in drafting, negotiating and quality-assuring commercial agreements – from purchase and sale agreements to complex collaboration agreements and IT contracts. We combine legal precision with commercial understanding.

Specialist legal expertise in contract law

Contract law is a core area at Bull. Our lawyers have strong and broad expertise in commercial contracts, with experience ranging from drafting agreements and conducting complex negotiations to managing long-term contractual relationships. Many of our lawyers have backgrounds as in-house counsel in the business sector, giving us insight into how agreements work in practice – and what actually creates value or risk for a business.

We assist both private and public sector organisations, Norwegian and international, across industries. We support clients from start to finish: from strategic assessments of contract structure and business model, through drafting and negotiation, to the ongoing management of contractual relationships. This includes handling changes, deviations, defective deliveries and disagreements – as well as assistance with contract interpretation, enforcement and disputes.

Many contracts require more than pure contract law expertise. Where needed, we assemble cross-disciplinary teams with expertise from Bull’s other practice areas, such as technology/IT, intellectual property, privacy, public procurement, tax and corporate law, competition law, or employment law – ensuring that our advice covers both the agreement as a whole and the regulatory framework surrounding it.

Our services include, among other things:

    • Distribution and agency agreements
    • Collaboration agreements and joint ventures
    • Consultancy and service agreements
    • Research and development agreements (R&D)
    • Franchise agreements
    • Purchase and sale agreements
    • IT and technology contracts, including SaaS agreements and licence agreements
    • Framework agreements and procurement contracts
    • Data processing agreements
    • Legal bases for processing
    • Assessment of privacy impacts (DPIA)

Useful insight:

  • Even if an agreement does not contain an express termination clause, it may in some cases still be possible to terminate it. This depends, among other things, on whether the agreement was entered into for an indefinite term, whether there has been a material breach by the other party, or whether an implied right of termination can be derived from the nature of the agreement and the parties’ intentions. We assess the specific situation and advise on the options available.

  • Liquidated damages are a predetermined financial penalty accruing per day/week/month that the delivery is delayed, intended to incentivise the supplier to deliver on time. A proportionate price reduction is a reduction in the consideration that reflects the reduced value of what has actually been delivered. These remedies may be regulated differently in the contract, and it is important to assess whether both can be invoked simultaneously, as well as any caps on overall liability. We help draft clauses that strike the right balance between incentives and risk.

  • A data processing agreement is only required where one party processes personal data on behalf of the other as part of the contractual relationship. This is particularly relevant in connection with IT services, consultancy engagements or other services where the supplier gains access to the customer’s personal data. If both parties are independent controllers, or if no personal data is processed, a data processing agreement is not required. We carry out a specific assessment of the privacy aspects of your agreements and ensure GDPR compliance.

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