Complex commercial contracts, procurement and trade

Our commercial lawyers help you navigate the full lifecycle of complex contracts, from strategic negotiations and risk management to automation of your everyday agreements.

With decades of experience, we advise public and private sector clients on the structure, negotiation and delivery of commercial, trade and procurement contracts in Australia and internationally.

Every engagement you have with a customer or trading partner contributes to the profitability and efficiency of your business. Our clients trust us to help them navigate and optimise the complex puzzle of commercial arrangements that underpin their business success, whether operating domestically or engaging with cross-border partners.

For complex contracting cases, we help you to identify and manage the key drivers and risks in agreements, supporting you in your most important customer and trading relationships by drawing on subject matter experts from across our firm. Our advice, preparation and negotiation of commercial contracts are practical, commercially focused and solutions-based.

For your 'business as usual' contracts, you may need a more streamlined, templated approach. Our market-leading iHub team works closely with our lawyers to deliver smart legal contracts, using automation and AI technology to ensure the efficient production and management of high-use contracts.

Trade and commercial contracts

Our team has the depth and experience to work with you on any commercial agreement, providing templated support for low-risk arrangements and bespoke, project-specific advice and documentation for high-risk arrangements. Having dealt with every kind of issue, we bring experience from both sides of the contract - principal and supplier.

Our experience includes contracts relating to:

supply of goods or services
transitional services
equipment sale and hire
consulting and sub-contracting
contract manufacturing
consignment
reseller
agency and distribution
franchising

Business as usual templates and contract automation

If your business supplies goods and services or other high-use business contracts, we can help revolutionise how you issue and manage your contracts portfolio. Drawing on our deep experience negotiating contracts for both suppliers and principals, we can develop a market accepted template tailored to your business strategy and risk appetite.

Using automation and AI technology, we then deliver a product you can roll out to your clients and customers, building in options and guardrails that limit amendments without escalation. These 'smart contracts' have significant potential to streamline and optimise the contract management function in your business.

For more on our iHub and contract automation team, see here.

Technology and digital economy contracts

Our team of dedicated technology lawyers understands the rapidly evolving technology landscape. We act for suppliers and customers in advising on, documenting and negotiating technology supply and procurement contracts that maximise flexibility and manage and mitigate risk. Our experience includes contracts relating to:

ICT sourcing, including hardware, software and networked systems
terms of use - including user agreements and click through terms and conditions
outsourcing (IT and BPO)
cloud contracts (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS and other as-a-service offerings)
software development and licensing
IT consultancy
managed services
systems integration
IP licensing and commercialisation
data commercialisation
data and workload migration
telecommunication systems
payment systems
digital products and services
media, sponsorship and brand ambassador services

For more information see our Technology and Digital page.

Cross border contracts

While you might understand the law and market practice in your home jurisdiction, entering the Australian market as a supplier, or being an overseas customer of an Australian supplier, can involve complex cross-border contractual risks. We help de-risk these arrangements by ensuring your contracts comply with Australian law and advising on what is accepted in the Australian market on a range of commercial and legal topics. Our goal is to help you transition your business seamlessly into and out of Australia.

If you are an Australian firm operating overseas, we can assist you in finding local counsel in every country to support you with your 'landing' your contracts overseas and navigating complex tariff and export/import regimes. We leverage our unique global network of 'best friend firms,' and over 140 member firms in Terralex, the international legal network of which we are the Australian member.

For more information on our international practice, see our International offering.

Government contracts

Our government sector team consists of seasoned professionals whose experience spans a wide range of practice areas, including government procurement and contracting, enabling us to provide comprehensive legal support that addresses the full spectrum of government needs.

For more detail, refer to our Government legal services page.

Construction and infrastructure

Our national team of construction and infrastructure lawyers have more than 50 years' experience in commercial, residential, engineering and infrastructure projects. Combining decades of private practice in-house experience, our team has a firm understanding of operational functions and risk allocation in key contracts. Our team provides whole-of-life support from procurement to delivery including: