Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/392122
39 You should read your institution's Social and Ethical Policy for guidance. If there are areas of work which you cannot cover but you are able to introduce your client to someone else who can cover that area, then it is better that your client contracts directly with the other consultant rather than them acting as your sub-contractor. If they act as your sub-contractor and fail to deliver then, whilst you may have a claim against them, your client will have a claim against you. Intellectual Property – Clients may ask you to give them all the IP which you create as part of doing the work. As consultancy should really be about advice all they usually need is a licence to use the IP. In fact, if you produce your reports in a common format, by giving them the IP you could be giving them the format of your report, which in itself would stop you using it again. If they need more then maybe what you are discussing is a research contract rather than a consultancy assignment. If you are asked to give warranties in relation to the IP be very cautious. You should do no more than say that you have not copied the work. Inform the IP practitioners at your institution and seek advice from IP lawyers over any IP issues that arise. Non-compete – You may be asked not to do the same or similar work for third parties. This might be acceptable if the period of the restriction is short and the definition of what you cannot do is very narrowly drawn. Remember however that you are being engaged because of your expertise and the client should not be able to stop you from doing your everyday research. "Tricky standard phrases" – Contracts sometimes contain words of which you may not fully understand the implications. If you see the words "time is of the essence", this means that if you do not do something by the specified date your client can terminate the contract immediately. You will often see a contract saying that you will use your "best endeavours" to do something. "Best endeavours" is extremely onerous. It is generally considered that this obligation is not limited by considerations of commercial or financial reasonableness. So it can mean you spending a lot of time and money to comply however unreasonable you may think it. Many people use the words "reasonable endeavours" on the basis that they are less onerous than "best endeavours". There is however little case law Managing Risk Section 6