Covid-19, Force Majeure and Frustration of Contracts - The Essential Guide

This book is part of our new series of essential guides for legal practitioners covering what you need to know about how various aspects of UK law have been affected by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. DESCRIPTION Force majeure clauses often languish unnoticed in the boilerplate section of a contract until something goes wrong, at which point they are considered in minute detail in the hope of being relied upon. Frustration is a little-known common law doctrine that can act as a default argument in the absence of a force majeure clause, or where the force majeure clause does not cover the event in question. Covid-19 has brought these issues to prominence once again, and this book aims to outline the key provisions, together with a series of practical steps that need to be taken in order to deal with these issues as smoothly as possible. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Keith Markham qualified as a Solicitor in 2001 and now works as a freelancer providing training and consultancy services. He began his career in private practice, and then moved in-house at the BGL Group, a major insurance intermediary that includes comparethemarket.com among its brands. During his time there, Keith regularly conducted contract negotiations of a complex nature, often with major blue-chip companies. Subsequently, Keith joined BPP Professional Education, one of Europe’s leading providers of professional development training. He worked there as both an in-house lawyer dealing with commercial contracts and data protection and also as a presenter of training courses before establishing his own consultancy in 2009. Drawing on his considerable experience, Keith has designed and delivered a wide variety of training for BPP, MBL and other providers as well as for his own clients in the commercial law field. In particular, he teaches topics relating to commercial contracts and data protection to lawyers and non-lawyers alike. He also provides consultancy services to an increasing number of clients in these fields. He is also the author of ‘A Practical Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation’ which is now available in its second edition. CONTENTS Part A – Force Majeure Chapter One – Introduction Chapter Two – Definition Chapter Three – Causation Chapter Four – Prevention and Mitigation Chapter Five – Notification and Termination Chapter Six – Trader to Consumer Contracts Part B – Alternatives to Force Majeure Chapter Seven – Frustration Chapter Eight – Other Contract Considerations Chapter Nine – Commercial Alternatives Part C – Appendices Chapter One – Coronavirus Act 2020 Overview Chapter Two – The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 Chapter Three – Timeline Chapter Four – Resources