Practice Areas

Companies involved in international commercial transactions are routinely faced with sensitive issues in the drafting and interpretation of commercial agreements, issues not present in purely domestic transactions. Often, a party to an international transaction brings to the negotiating table assumptions, experience, and knowledge based on a legal framework not shared by the other party. We assist clients in bridging these differences during the negotiation and drafting of international commercial agreements. We advise clients on the application of mandatory laws in the United States and the European Union as well as all aspects of the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”). We counsel companies in developing successful contract negotiation and drafting strategies, providing them with advice on conflict of laws, jurisdictional issues, application of the CISG, inclusion of arbitration clauses, selection of arbitration rules, choice of law, and choice of seat of arbitration.

Because English has increasingly become the language of negotiation and of contracts in the international business community, companies from non-English-speaking countries may face questions concerning the proper interpretation and/or use of English or American legal terminology, even when the agreement does not involve American or British law. Our lawyers are experienced in drafting international commercial contracts in English, in particular when one or both parties are non-English speakers.