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I am a professional speaker, innovator, lecturer and trainer. My specialist subject is construction and engineering contracts. As the author of the 500-Word Contract™, I like a challenge! It is not easy making sure there are no more than 500 plain words explaining the intricacies of a construction project. It is also my challenge to the received wisdom that prefers the comfort of long, complex contracts and holds them out as best practice. It is my challenge to the construction industry to simplify the ‘dreaded paperwork’ by adopting simple contracts.

 Whether you are a lawyer, in-house contracts adviser, contract administrator or construction professional, you can gain the confidence to read your contracts, write your own contracts in simple terms and adapt standard forms/your partners’ contracts to make them record your agreement more clearly. Simpler contracts will help your firm or company meet its business goals and create agreements which are in-line with your business’ values. I know about 30% of you love contracts, because they help you do business, but I want everyone to love your contracts.* My Journey Three elements of my journey so far illustrate what drives my business: (1) Clarity: As an identical twin, I developed my own language (technical term:cryptophasia) while I was still in a high-chair. I innately understood the importance of clarity for both the talker and the listener – my mum couldn’t follow a word of it! See my BettaKultcha video for more on my journey as a twin. 40% of contract users think there is too much legalese or jargon in contracts. You can learn to use clear language and avoid jargon. (2) Brevity: As a first-class maths student at Warwick University, I was taught how to reduce complex ideas to their simplest terms, using formulae. I understood that brevity did not mean ‘dumbing down’ and could apply to even the most technical concepts. 85% of contract users want contracts which are shorter than JCT 2011 and FIDIC (less than 50,000 words).

 You can learn how to make the complex simple, awesomely simple. (3) Accuracy: As a construction solicitor at a top 5 global law firm, I built my advice and contracts on a solid foundation of laws, data and cases. I understood that inaccurate or incomplete information could result in time-consuming, expensive and potentially business-wrecking wrong turns. There are only ten essentials for a construction contract and these should be the foundations of your contract. Nearly 50% of contract users do not find current construction contracts easy to use, easy to read, easy to understand or easy to implement. You can learn how to focus on ‘need-to-know’ content. When reading, writing or adapting a contract you need to remember that “Simplicity is as easy as ABC: Accuracy, Brevity, Clarity.” Can I Help You? Not everyone wants to change the way they build, review or adapt contracts. You may prefer to leave your contracts in a drawer and only bring them out when there is a dispute brewing. You may consider them a necessary evil and the very idea of spending more money sorting them out fills you with horror. That’s fine with me. I only want to work with companies who know there is a better way to record their agreements. If you are prepared to start with a blank sheet and change your systems, policies and documents to embrace simpler contracts, then perhaps I can help.

 If you are in the 70% of contract users who want to use contracts written by the users for the users, then we might be able to work together to build you simpler contracts, design quicker contract review procedures and embed contracting best practice throughout your company. if you still don’t get it why it matters to you, I can speak to your company about learning to love their contracts if you have T&C or use standard forms, we can run a workshop showing you how to write simpler contracts which you can understand and then use if you work on your business partners’ contracts or T&C, we can run a workshop showing you a new process to quickly decide whether a contract is ‘good to go’ or a ‘disaster waiting to happen’ if none of these fit the bill, then contact us to discuss how we can put together a package to suit your business’ needs and meet your business’ goals.