“Coronavirus prompts urgent review of oft-overlooked clauses”

Partner Craig Smith quoted in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

“What we’re seeing is some industries have fairly good, robust force majeure clauses, but a lot of industries do not,” said Boston attorney Craig R. Smith.

Moreover, choice-of-law provisions may ultimately alter the impact of force majeure clauses, given that approaches to similar contract language or circumstances may vary depending on the jurisdiction, he said.

Smith cited the example of the record number of force majeure certificates the Chinese government has issued in an attempt to exempt local exporters from fulfilling contractual agreements with overseas buyers. Those may be given different degrees of recognition, depending on the forum, he said.

Read the full article on Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly