International Business Contracts
Your Contract Crosses a Border. So Do the Risks.
You’re signing a distribution agreement with a French company. Or appointing a commercial agent in another country. Or drafting a franchise arrangement that needs to work under two different legal systems. Perhaps you’re a foreign business entering the French market, or a French business expanding abroad.
The contract might look straightforward — until you consider that French commercial law and common-law systems handle the same situations very differently. Termination rights, compensation on ending a relationship, pre-contractual disclosure obligations, mandatory consumer protections — what’s standard in one system can be a costly surprise in another.
And then there are the questions that only arise when a contract crosses a border. Which country’s law actually governs this agreement? If something goes wrong, where do you go to court? If you win in one country, can you enforce that decision in another? How do you draft clauses that actually protect you when two legal systems are in play?
These are not details you want to discover after the contract is signed.
A Former Notary Who Understands Both Systems
Julie Gordon’s years as a practising notary gave her deep experience in drafting and authenticating contracts within the French legal system. As a specialist in international law and companies, she now applies that expertise to the cross-border commercial relationships where French and foreign legal systems intersect.
She works in English and French and understands how clients from common-law backgrounds think about contracts — which means she can spot the assumptions that don’t translate into French law before they become problems.
Situations We Work With
International business contracts cover a wide range of relationships and industries. Our clients come to us when they are dealing with:
Distribution contracts between French and foreign companies
Commercial agency agreements with cross-border dimensions
Franchise arrangements involving French pre-contractual disclosure rules
Service provision contracts with international parties
Supply agreements that need to comply with multiple jurisdictions
Any commercial contract where the parties are in different countries and need to determine which rules apply
The legal structure of the company behind the contract matters too — the wrong corporate setup can undermine even a well-drafted agreement. → Companies & Corporate Contracts
These questions — which law, which court, which country’s rules — are the domain of private international law. → Private International Law
Contact Us
If you have a business contract with an international dimension, contact us for a consultation. We’ll help you understand the complexity before you commit.