Consultancy contracts
A consultancy contract is a legal agreement between a consultant and his or her (or its) client, by means of which the client buys the services of the consultant. The consultant may be an individual or a company.
Consultancy contracts can also be called consulting contracts, consultancy agreements and consulting agreements.
It may be important - for both consultants and their clients - to ensure that a consultant does not become an employee of the client.
The most contentious issue in a consultancy contract is often the treatment of intellectual property rights. The work product of a consultant will usually be protected by copyright (e.g. if the consultant is producing written reports or software code). The consultant will be the first owner of that copyright. The consultancy agreement should specify whether the copyright in the work product is assigned (i.e. transferred) to the client or retained by the consultant and licensed to the client. Licences may be granted on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis. Very often, the intellectual property rights in the different elements of the work product will required different treatment.
Other key terms in a consultancy contract will include:
- the definition of the services to be provided;
- consultant fee calculations;
- treatment of consultant expenses;
- the definition of the client's responsibilities;
- responsibility for any insurance; and
- limitations of liability protecting the consultant and the client.
Template consulting contracts
You may be able to save yourself money by buying a template, rather than having a bespoke consulting contract drafted to your requirements.
Our template shop at Website-contracts.co.uk offers downloadable consultancy contract templates.
Click here to choose your consultancy contract now.
Bespoke consulting contracts
We also draft, review and negotiate bespoke consulting contracts behalf of our clients.
If you'd like a chat about a consulting contract, please do call us on 01491 834695.
Alternatively, you can contact us using the form below, and we will get back to you within 24 hours.