Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Chair
Anita Birkinshaw, Special Counsel, Simpson Grierson
Learning Objectives:
-
Develop practical drafting techniques to recognise and adjust how contractual clauses allocate rights, obligations and risk between negotiating parties
-
Apply positional drafting strategies to key provisions, including reasonable standards, proportionality, breach triggers, limitations and indemnities, while avoiding common drafting traps
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD hour
Negotiating Contracts: Positional Drafting
Join a masterclass of contracting drafting class pitched at lawyers supporting commercial teams to negotiate contracts, whether inhouse or external clients (from the routine to the complex). Discover how the same clause can be expressed (or tweaked in negotiation) to alter which party it prefers. You will master:
- Who decides if an obligation has been met
- Introducing proportionality
- “Reasonable” standards
- Breach triggers
- Drafting traps
- Limitations and indemnities
Presented by Peter Callus, Senior Associate, Dentons
Presenters
Anita Birkinshaw, Special Counsel, Simpson GriersonAnita Birkinshaw, Special Counsel, Simpson Grierson Anita specialises in litigation and has extensive experience in commercial dispute resolution. She advises clients on a varied range of contentious matters, including in relation to intellectual property, regulatory investigations and prosecutions, competition law issues, contractual disputes and administrative law. Anita is highly experienced in resolving claims through court proceedings, arbitration, mediation and negotiation. She works with clients from a wide variety of industry sectors, including manufacturing and retail, professional services, media and aviation. Anita has a Master's degree in law from the University of Paris I (Pantheon-, Sorbonne), France. Following her postgraduate studies, she worked as a litigator for leading international law firms in Paris and London, with a particular focus on disputes arising in the energy industry and on product liability law.
Peter Callus, Senior Associate, Dentons
Peter is a Senior Associate in Dentons Corporate and Commercial team with over 10 years' experience. He advises on a full range of corporate and commercial matters, including drafting and negotiating complex service agreements, supply agreements and strategic/framework agreements, M&A transactions, joint ventures, and business structuring. Peter provides solution focused commercial and corporate law advice to his clients across a range of sectors, with a particular interest in energy and technology Peter brings a calm manner and robust process to his work and excels at complex problem solving, drafting and advising on commercial contracts.
