Buckley & Leaders offers advice on best contracting practices, protecting our clients through in-depth contract reviews, contract negotiation and negotiations coaching. We have extensive experience with standard contracts from owner, designer and contractor organizations as AIA, AGC, DBIA, EJCDC, FIDIC and offer guidance in avoiding common contracting pitfalls.

Our approach utilizes our more than 30 years experience in contract review, negotiations and management and focuses on the creation, preservation and improvement of important relationships. We use a principled negotiations, mutual gain approach to negotiations for improved trust and relationships that are critical to long term successful contracting. Client staff is utilized where possible for cost-effective solutions.

We offer extensive contract-related services, including:

• Contract reviews that feature over fifty review elements, offering suggested alternatives to less than favorable clauses and "best practices" alternative contract clauses. Emphasis is on risk mitigation strategies.
• "On-call" services to clients during negotiations strategy sessions and contract negotiations for real-time assistance by phone, or in-person at negotiation sessions.
• Guidance and QA reviews to achieve focused contract scopes, drawing on legal and engineering education and experiences.
• Assistance with improving contracts management and contract administration procedures.
• Contract dispute claims analysis and dispute resolution assistance or representation.
• Coaching and support of staff, and provision of extensive tools to enable in-house performance of most payment recovery activities and other small claims, arbitration and other non-litigated collection activities.
• Representation in mediation, arbitration or other alternative dispute resolution proceedings or other neutral services.
• Contract clauses library, featuring "best practices" clauses from 30 years of experience and hundreds of standard and specialized contracts.

Value-added services we have provided to our clients include:

• Drafted Strategic Alliance Agreement for 10 year $100 million electrical generation project, as an owner requested member of the design team. Also drafted design/build documents and project partnering program.
• Revised engineering contract documents to improve recovery of all costs due to changes in scope, delays or changed conditions for international engineering form and provided project manager supplemental training on implementation of new profit recovery provisions.
• Developed a detailed risk assessment and mitigation program for an engineering firm that allowed satisfactory contracts to be negotiated, addressing corporate management concerns that the line of business was too risk and should be abandoned.

Contact us for more information on our programs and services.