January Bi-Monthly Educational Program Recap

Look Before You Sign
By Ashley Holder

Let’s be honest, contracts make must of us shudder. They are the most dreaded part of booking an event, both for the client and the vendor, mainly because everyone is afraid there will be something hidden that has the potential to cause some problems.

Nathan Breen was our guest speaker last night. He is a partner at Howe & Hutton, Ltd. which is known as the “Law Firm for Meeting Professionals”. He obtained his undergrad at DePaul University and his Juris Doctor at John Marshall Law School. He has also served on the John Marshall Law Review as Executive Lead Articles Editor and externed for a judge on the Circuit Court of Cook County. Concentrating primarily in association intellectual property and internet law, he maintains a practice in hospitality law, contracts and commercial litigation.

His first and single most important piece of advice was to start off with a good contract. A good contract that spells out X will happen upon the occurrence of Z, that way no one is left wondering and there is no room for any other interpretation.

Other items that you would want to include in your client contracts would be: a detailed cancellation policy, compensation policy, indemnification clause, and details on who will be responsible for alcohol service in case any issues arise after alcohol is sold or served at the event.

Risk management needs to be included in the contract as well. Explain what will happen if force majeur is used, who is responsible for what payments to the vendors, when can that call be made, under what circumstances can you cancel an event and say it was “beyond the control of other parties”; your definition maybe quite different from your clients’ and vendors’ definition.

With vendors you must outline who is responsible for any permits/certifications/licenses that are required. Make sure that if you are planning on having music at an event, there are the appropriate licenses in place otherwise you could be hit with a substantial fee. Same with doing a large outdoor event where tents will be used; is the tent company responsible or is the planner going to handle this when the special event permit is obtained?

The bottom line of the evening is that the length of the contract is not important and while it may seem daunting to hand a client or vendor a multi-page contract if something unforeseen does happen both will know exactly what will happen and neither will be paying court fees to resolve the issue.