Contracts are everywhere from supplier agreements to client deals – and yet many professionals manage contracts without formal training about how these documents can impact their organisations business. This non-legalese course is designed specifically for business managers, project leads, contract managers, directors, and professionals who look at contracts as part of their roles.
This practical 3-hour workshop demystifies contracts for non-legal professionals and non-lawyers. You will gain essential knowledge about contract structures, risk allocation, dispute resolution and operational aspects to collaborate more effectively with legal teams, make informed business decisions, and attain a better understanding about contracts, how they work and why they are important.
Thursday, 30 October 2025
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the essential elements that make a valid contract
- Understand the structure and purpose of key contract sections
- Recognize important risk allocation provisions
- Distinguish between different dispute resolution mechanisms
- Identify signs of potential breach and appropriate responses
- Collaborate more effectively with legal teams
- Make more informed decisions when reviewing operational aspects of contracts
Description
Attend and earn 3 CPD hours
* This interactive online recording includes questions and quizzes requiring critical thinking about the topics, so you have no annual limits to the number of points/hours you can claim with this format of learning. Please verify with your CPD rules
Understanding Contracts for Non-Lawyers Workshop
Led by Dr Maria A. Pozza, this 3-hour course takes you through the basics and the nuts and bolts of a contract, followed by a practical case study to review a contract.
Course Outline:
Session 1: Understanding Contracts
- What is a Contract? Learn about the essential elements that make up a contract
- How does it work and why do we use them
- Anatomy of a Contract: understanding terms like indemnity, liability, termination, and confidentiality, dispute and resolution
- Understanding Contract Scope and Operational Provisions and how these are important to performance issues
Session 2: Risk, Disputes & Practical Application
- The importance of clearly explaining the key commercial arrangements between the parties and then how these connect to the key clauses of the contract
- Risk Allocation in Contracts
- How to “read” a contract and spot the red flags
Learning Materials Provided
- Participant workbook with key concepts
- Checklist for contract review
Presenters
Dr. Maria A. Pozza, Director and Principal Lawyer, Gravity Lawyers
Dr Maria Pozza is a seasoned corporate and commercial Lawyer in New Zealand. She’s the director of law firm - Gravity lawyers. Maria has a wealth of experience as both a private and in-house practitioner with a passion for contracts. Her goal is to simplify the complexities around contracts for her clients. Her expertise extends to space law, cyber, tech, IT, data and privacy.
