PRACTICE OVERVIEW
Commercial
What do you call a dense, overly lengthy contract that is loaded with legal jargon and virtually impossible for a nonlawyer to understand? The status quo. For the most part, the contracts used in business are long, poorly structured, and full of unnecessary and incomprehensible language.
– Shawn Burton, General Counsel of GE Aviation’s Business & General Aviation and Integrated Systems businesses writing in the Harvard Business Review
When Analytics drafts a contract or advice you will not find it weighted down by legalistic phrases such as “notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein”, “thereto”, useless boilerplate or that clarity destroying device, “and/or” (is it one or the other?). Legal documents set out our rights and responsibilities. If we cannot understand the documents, we cannot exercise our rights and we cannot take responsibility. At Analytics, we understand this, and we take pride in drafting our legal contracts and advice in plain, easy to understand and precise language.
This is not simply a matter of style. Disputes caused by ambiguity disappear when documents are drafted clearly. Plain English contracts also take less time to negotiate. According to Shawn Burton:
Plain language has saved GE Aviation’s digital-services business significant amounts of time and money. And customers love it. One customer told us: “The contract worked out really nicely; I prefer a more simplistic approach and contracts written in a fashion I can understand.”
And if a lawyer cannot draft advice or a contract in plain English, you should ask yourself if that lawyer really understands what she or he is writing about? Or is she or he simply playing it safe by mindlessly regurgitating something found in a dusty form file?
We provide advice on wide range of commercial issues ranging from mortgages to data protection regulations. We draft and revise contracts on a wide range of matters. Indeed, many of the better advice memorandums and contracts now used by some of the major law firms in Bangkok were first written by lawyers from Analytics (and you are likely paying a substantial mark-up when you engage that firm to “draft” these documents).
For accurate and understandable advice and contracts in Thailand, Analytics is your choice.
Related Articles
- Thai Unit of Toyota Motor Corporation ordered to Pay Extra TaxesNikkei Asia reported that: Thailand Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that the local unit of Toyota Motor Corp. owed the government 10 billion baht ($272.11 million) in extra taxes for importing components not subject to a reduced tariff. Nikki Asia reported that “Toyota’s Thailand unit in a written statement said it was paying ...Read more
- Foreign Ownership of Land Under Consideration (Again)The Bangkok Post is reporting that the Thai government is again considering opening up land ownership to foreigners in Thailand. Foreigners are generally prohibited from owning land in Thailand, and this often comes as a surprise to foreigners from more open and developed jurisdictions where there are no such restrictions. Not surprisingly, this is generating ...Read more
- Four Announcements about Thailand’s PDPA in the Royal GazetteOn 21 June 2022, just a few weeks after Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”) came into full force, the Data Protection Committee published four announcements in the Royal Gazette about the PDPA. These announcements provide more detail about the PDPA and are intended to provide holders of personal data with more information about their ...Read more
- Are you ready for the Thai Personal Data Protection Law?The Thai Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019) (“PDPA”) comes into full force on 1 June 2022. The PDPA technically came into force in 2019, but enforcement of the core provisions of the PDPA, including those imposing duties on data controllers and data processors as well as punishments for violations of the PDPA, was postponed was until ...Read more
- Thailand’s New Credit Term RegulationBy Douglas Mancill and Nat Uawithya The Policy Rationale Behind Thailand’s Credit Regulation Negotiated terms between commercial parties of equal bargaining power are generally considered better than dictated terms. But regulatory authorities don’t always agree. Last year Thailand’s Trade Competition Commission (“TCC”) promulgated a credit terms regulation (the “Regulation”) intended to protect small-to-medium size enterprises (“SME”) from what it ...Read more
- Cross Examination in International Arbitration – ThailandConducting a cross examination in an international arbitration proceeding is like conducting a cross examination in a domestic arbitration or trial, but there are some differences. International arbitrations, by definition, involve witnesses, arbitrators, and parties from different countries. Adopting a more civil and polite tone is almost always the best approach when you are representing ...Read more
- Real Estate Scams in ParadiseYears ago I saw an English language posting on Linked-In advertising the “sale” of land on Koh Chang (a Thai island) through the use of three consecutive 30 year “registered” leases for a total of 90 years. The advertisement went so far as to highlight the land’s location in a national park. When I posted ...Read more
- Airbus Corruption Probe Likely to ContinueAlthough the Trump administration unexpectedly imposed record fines under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), it also initiated “fewer and fewer new FCPA investigations”. The National Law Review reports that it expects the incoming Biden administration to “continue the trend of increasing FCPA enforcement settlement values, while also increasing the pace of initiating new FCPA ...Read more
- Conducting Corruption Compliance Interviews Abroad – ThailandForeign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) investigations typically involve third parties or subsidiaries located outside the US since most FCPA violations arise out of the activities of foreign third parties or foreign subsidiaries. But most guides on how to conduct FCPA investigations and interviews seem to ignore this rather obvious fact. It has not however escaped the attention of ...Read more
- Overview of Thai Bankruptcy Reorganization LawOverview of Thai Bankruptcy Reorganization Law Bankruptcy laws often require courts and parties to make hard choices. In a bankruptcy there is simply not enough money to satisfy everyone, and difficult decisions must be made about who gets what. In a bankruptcy, property is seized, reputations are ruined, contracts are dismembered and jobs are lost. Thai law ...Read more
- Draft Regulations Provide for Some Relaxation of the Foreign Business ActThe primary restriction on foreign ownership of businesses in Thailand is set out in the Foreign Business Act (“FBA”). To legally engage in activities restricted under the FBA, an alien company must obtain a Foreign Business License (“FBL”) or a Foreign Business Certificate (“FBC”) from the Department of Business Development of the Thai Ministry Commerce ...Read more
- Words That Have No Place in Your Legal Documents: “And/Or”Never use “and/or” in legal drafting, particularly when describing an obligation. It has been correctly described as an “ugly legalism”; William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White, in their classic, The Elements of Style, say and/or is “A device, or shortcut, that damages a sentence and often leads to confusion or ambiguity”. They are right. Justice Fowler, more colorfully, described ...Read more
- New Franchise Regulations in Thailand are a “Game Changer”For at least the past two decades, Thailand has been on the verge of enacting a franchise law. Law firms would issue bulletins to their clients announcing that a new law was about to be enacted on franchising relationships. The announcements would often say that the draft law would be enacted by year’s end. We ...Read more
- Effective and Persuasive English Language Advocates for Disputes in ThailandInternational arbitration is the best way to resolve cross border disputes. If the arbitration is conducted by a truly international arbitration institute, such as the Singapore International Arbitration Centre or the Thailand Arbitration Centre (THAC), the arbitration can be conducted in English, provided the arbitrator and counsel are capable of handling the proceedings in English. ...Read more
- More FCPA Enforcement Activity Predicted under Biden PresidencyAlthough the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Trump imposed record penalties under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA”) from 2017 through 2020, it also initiated fewer and fewer new FCPA investigations during that period. Indeed, White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow reportedly said in January 2020 that the administration was “looking at” making changes to the ...Read more
- High Level Overview of Steps Required to Register a Private Limited Company in ThailandThe steps required to establish a private limited company in Thailand are: Reservation of Name The first step involved in establishing a Thai company is to file via online an application to register the company’s proposed name(s) with the Registrar (the Registrar) of the Partnerships and Companies Registration Office, Department of Business Development (DBD), Ministry of Commerce. Within ...Read more
- Practical Tip on Arbitration Clauses for Thailand that Allows You to Have Your Cake and it Too.There is little dispute that international arbitration is the best way to resolve cross-border disputes. A 2018 International Arbitration Survey carried out by Queen Mary University of London in partnership with the White & Case law firm demonstrates that international arbitration is the accepted and expected means of resolving cross border disputes. The survey reports that 97% of the ...Read more
- Higher Returns for Property, Tourism, Entertainment, etc. Sectors After Pandemic EndsHigher Returns in Tourism, Property, etc., after the Pandemic Ends The Bangkok Post reported on 20 November 2020 that “Thailand’s biggest manager of distressed assets is bracing for another difficult year in 2021, as the economy faces more headwinds from the pandemic”. This article goes on to quote Bungyong Visatemongkolchai, the chairman of Bangkok Commercial Asset ...Read more
- Top 12 Things to Keep in Mind When Planning on Doing Business in ThailandThe top 12 things to keep in mind when planning to do business in Thailand: 1. Foreign Ownership of Companies and Land: This is often a surprise for business people and lawyers operating in more open economies, but foreigners are prohibited from owning land (absent narrow exceptions) and foreign majority owned businesses are prohibited from engaging in a ...Read more
- International Arbitration in Thailand – A Work in ProgressThailand has made some progress on international arbitration, but it’s still a work in progress. Thailand has, for example, made it possible for foreign representatives and arbitrators to conduct and participate in arbitration proceedings in Thailand, but some restrictions on foreign representatives and arbitrators remain. Judicial hostility towards arbitration awards against governmental bodies and other local parties ...Read more
- Facing the Foreign Business ActTo legally engage in activities restricted under the FBA, an alien company must obtain a Foreign Business License (“FBL”) or a Foreign Business Certificate (“FBC”) from the DBD. This is often easier said than done, but there are some exceptions.Read more
- Compliance in the Time of CovidCovid-19 has created a perfect storm for regulatory lapses and failures: an unprecedented combination of business and regulatory disruption in a condensed time of period. Compliance requirements and safeguards are ignored, and compliance investigations hindered, delayed, or canceled. But do not expect the Department of Justice or the Securities and the Exchange Commission(“SEC”) to relax enforcement ...Read more