Webinar Package includes:

Archive Presentation  l  Booklet  l  PowerPoint Presentation

Webinar Package Fee (incl GST)

• $205 - NZLS members and Associate members
• $255 - Non-members

Note: Access to the online files is via your "My CPD" page. If you would like to purchase multiple packages, please contact us here.

Webinar Archive Presentation

Presentation time: 90 minutes

Contract law is at the heart of commercial law and practice. A sound up-to-date knowledge of the area is essential for all lawyers.
This seminar will cover recent court decisions and legislative changes in a practical way. It will also cover the following areas of contract law:

• Formation (including arbitration agreements)
• Interpretation
• Implied terms
• Mistake, misrepresentation
• Unfair contract terms
• Penalties
• The assessment of damages
• Legislative developments.

In addition to reviewing recent New Zealand developments, the seminar will consider decisions from other common law jurisdictions such as Australia and the United Kingdom, which are likely to be relevant to contract law in New Zealand.

Please contact us if you use a dial up internet connection.

Booklet 

Author: Paul David QC
Published: 15 March 2017
Pages: 51

Introduction

This review covers developments in the law of contract since the previous review which was presented in late 2015. I presented a further seminar in June 2016 on the Law of Penalties which covered recent developments in the law of penalties. This is an area which has, perhaps unexpectedly, been extensively examined by the higher courts in the United Kingdom and Australia. This review does not rehearse the ground covered by the earlier seminars but, in some of the areas covered, such as the approach to interpretation, implied terms, penalties and damages, the decisions reviewed build upon developments noted in the previous seminars. By way of example, in the recent period we have seen courts continue the emphasis in contract interpretation cases (which was highlighted in the previous seminar) on finding the meaning of the language by which contracting parties have expressed themselves in their agreement.

The main areas covered in this review are:

• Contract interpretation;
• Formation;
• Implied terms;
• Mistake and misrepresentation;
• Unfair contract terms – Commerce Commission sector reviews;
• The law of penalties (following on from seminar of June 2016);
• The assessment of damages; and
• Legislative developments, notably the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.

While the seminar primarily focuses on recent decisions from the New Zealand courts, decisions from other Commonwealth jurisdictions are also reviewed where they seem likely to have an influence on New Zealand law. The material covered is a selection from recent decided cases and is not intended to be an exhaustive survey of contract law decisions in the period.

PowerPoint Presentation

These are the slides included in the webinar presentation.