Do Anything You Have To Do!

Why would you get into a contract, not stick to the requirements and then have to try to wriggle your way out of it when it goes horribly wrong?  It’s amazing when you read some of the cases that go through the Courts, as to how many people or businesses get into a contract which, although it suits all of the parties involved at the time, when it then goes wrong (perhaps through no fault of anyone but just unfortunate circumstances like the insolvency of a client) they have to try and pick up the pieces.  Often, the contract states quite clearly what is supposed to happen.  For instance, there might be a clause saying that you will go to arbitration or you may have a contract with someone from overseas which states that the Courts of England and Wales will be correct place to bash it out.

I was just reading a case whereby there was a company complaining about losing their equipment when a lease of a building they were occupying was terminated.  The odd thing about this case to me was that the company had 28 days in which to go in and remove their equipment.  They didn’t do so and therefore lost the right to either get the equipment or to get compensation from the landlord when he leased the place to someone else.  I don’t know all the circumstances of the case but it just goes to show how easily things can go wrong.  Looking in from the outside, you wonder why they didn’t get round to removing their equipment – after all, 28 days is quite a long time.  But there you go…they didn’t and they ended up unsuccessfully taking the landlord to Court to try and get some compensation.  In trying to win, they used obscure legal arguments which failed to impress the Judge.

The lesson is – try your best to comply with the terms of all of your contracts otherwise you could end up dangling on a string trying to make it right when it is much too late.  Trying to use clever arguments to compensate for poor operational decisions is not the best way of spending your company’s budget.  Litigation can take out your bottom line.  If, however, you’ve already gone past the point of no return and you are going to have to go to Court, don’t forget that you may be able to get a solicitor to do it on a no win no fee basis.  Check out my website for some help with that.

Tina Morgan    www.john-kennedy.co.uk

Legal-easy

Everyone’s gotta tale to tell

It’s amazing but as soon as you start to talk to people about what you do (or more precisely what I do) they have their own story to tell. It seems that people all over the country (nay all over the world) are regularly being treated abominably in their relationships with other people or businesses. What’s even worse, is that the ones that come off badly tend to be the smaller guy; the underdog; the little businesses. I think you know what I mean. I do a lot of networking and generally, every time I go to a meeting (and usually over breakfast) somebody will tell me their own sad story of being poorly dealt with by a big company.

Quite often they are stonewalled or they get the usual response “the cheque is in the post”. And while we are talking about “being in the post” isn’t it surprising how many documents, that are important to you, go missing in the post. “Oh I’m sorry, the refund for our appalling service defect is in the post”; “the information you require has been put in the post. I did it myself yesterday”; “the complaints form you requested is on its way” etc etc ad nauseum. But when it comes to a demand for payment, a big fat bill, a letter requiring you to perform an obligation – well, that always arrives on time, doesn’t it?

Enough ranting, I was talking about sad stories. I was told a story about a supplier who installed some very expensive technical equipment into the premises of a big company. You know what it’s like – you don’t dare ask for too much payment up front otherwise they go elsewhere. When it got to the end of the job, the big company was invoiced but refused to pay. The result of this was that although the supplier did not go “bust” they had to seriously downgrade their workforce and people lost their jobs and therefore the ability to pay their mortgages, go on their annual holiday to Benidorm, buy the kids a new bike for Christmas and run a decent car.

How many of you have been done down by a big, bad bully? If you have a story to tell, please let me know. I’d love to hear it.

Tina Morgan   www.john-kennedy.co.uk

Legal-easy

Introducing The Crusader

As a Middle Templar, I once thought I would follow the routes taken by the Crusades but not on a horse - on my trusty old ladies racing bike. I planned to investigate all the routes the crusaders took and choose the one that looked most interesting. I thought it would be fun (if maybe a little dangerous) but I was very serious about doing it.  Please be assured, I am not condoning warmongering or religious strife in any way; just interested in history and travel.  Sadly, I never got round to it. Time just seems to tick on by and some things just get put on hold.

Nevertheless, I'm still a Middle Templar and I'm still a crusader but now I'm crusading for justice. I'm going to be talking about how you can get what's due. If you've been stitched up, sold a pup, right royally screwed - then watch this space and we'll see if the Justice Crusader can help you get some redress.

Crusader - Helping you get what's due

Tina Morgan  www.john-kennedy.co.uk
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