From the very beginning of the introduction of contract law to law students, a lot of people would think that this branch of law won’t be anything interesting. Well, here is one of the examples on how contract law is applied to daily lives. Especially for those whose job probably will involve comprehensive contracts and legal concepts, I will explain to you what does an employment contract attorney would do, so that you can relate it to your future career (if you take this course, of course!). When you are an employee contract lawyer, the lawyer wants to make sure that no one else’s interest (e.g. the company’s business) will be put on halt because of contract law issues. For instance, let’s say that the company’s business partners or clients will sign a contract in order to establish the basis of the business between the partners or clients. However, if one of the partners or clients decides to breach the contract (e.g. the client no longer wants to continue the business relationship with that partner), the lawyer will have to investigate the impact that a contract breach will have in order to give the best advice to the company, which could vary depending on the cost of contract breach. For instance, if the cost of breach is too high, and the impact that it will have in the business is significant, it may be best to take the matter to court (e.g. mediation or litigation) in order to solve the problem at hand. Conversely, if the cost of breach is minimal, the company may decide to let it go and (probably) just lose some money. As you might have guessed, these decisions aren’t up to the lawyers alone, and will be made after reaching out to the company’s executive team to get their feedback about the costs of each option (or even negotiate with the client in order to settle the contract breach).

Now, what does contract law has anything to do with you as a student? It may not be something that you pay close attention to right now. But rest assured, you probably have read your share of contracts in your life, like an agreement to protect a new idea or piece of artwork. Many of us enter into written contracts and even verbal agreements every day, but we often don’t think about what exactly a contract is, or the ramifications of breaching one. So, here is a short explanation about contracts in case all those terms seem too foreign to you! A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties in order to exchange something (something could be money, or a promise to deliver a product). If one of the parties was found to breach the contract, the other party can enter the contract with the clause mentioned in point 3 above and may resolve the contract through mediation or litigation processes (the latter one being more expensive and time-consuming).

For you as a student, if you end up getting an internship or even a job offer, it’s good practice to read the employee agreement thoroughly (and don’t simply put your signature on it!). It may contain clauses that you didn’t understand or even agree with. In this day and age, we often have to work collaboratively with a group of people to complete an assignment, or even do a self-study where we need to find the right mentor to help us learn new things. This is why it’s important to know that the principles outlined above still apply when you work on a team or with a mentor. If you need to sign an agreement with the people you work with, you can always remember what you have learned in contract law course to protect yourself and the project you work on!

I’m not the only one who thinks contract law is an interesting course – one of the professionals who has experienced what it’s like to be an employee contract lawyer has shared insight with me: I was wondering What Do the duties of an employee contract lawyer include? Well, a lawyer is required to follow the ethical telling him (or her) to act in the best interest of his client, so he (or she) can provide the best legal counsel possible. For instance, when a client is considering a contract breach, the lawyer will need to decide whether it’s the best course of action by examining the potential implications such as financial losses, clients’ perception and even PR issues associated with contract breaches. If you enjoy the theory, then you might want to get into the practice! Some tips for students who want to become a lawyer are as follows: Moreover, if you think it’s something that wouldn’t fit with your personal values, then you should dig deeper in your studies to find out what makes you passionate about, and I’m sure you will find it at some point!