Don't Worry, It's Just Boilerplate ... -- and Other Pitfalls of I.T. Contracts

Daniel A. Batterman, Esq.

Tuesday, September 14th, 2004

Directions to the meeting place

Contracts are an inextricable part of running any business. How a company makes money is directly dependent upon the contracts into which it enters. This talk will focus upon IT contracts in particular, and will emphasize some of the more practical aspects of these types of contracts and the provisions to which particular attention should be paid before entering into a business relationship.

Some of the specific subjects that will be covered are: Time and materials vs. deliverable contracts, ownership and licensing of intellectual property rights, warranties, limitations of liability, indemnification, option to cure, electronic self-help, and acceptance, as well as other areas. Attorney Batterman will provide valuable insight into the IT contracting process, which provisions tend to be the most problematic during negotiation, and some of the common mistakes that IT professionals make when entering into these agreements.

Daniel A. Batterman, Esq., is an attorney in Boston who practices in the technology law field. This practice area includes contract negotiation and drafting, intellectual property, licensing, compliance, business development, employment, subcontracting, litigation, and collection matters. Mr. Batterman's clients include early stage technology companies, software and web development companies, service providers, information technology and business consultants, and internet and e-commerce companies.

Mr. Batterman received his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1989 and his Juris Doctor from the New England School of Law in Boston in 1995, where he was a member of the Law Review. Mr. Batterman has been a frequent lecturer at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in technology matters and has lectured to various industry and legal groups as well.

Additional Questions from NEMUG Members

• A very clear discussion of who owns the software when a programmer writes it -- as an employee, as a contractor, and as a person working on code in their own time while working for someone else.
• Non-compete agreements and how enforceable are they?
• Software patents vs software copyright
• SLA's (Service Level Agreements)
• war stories, etc.
• Copyrighting / protecting software... is this a dead issue?

Food and socializing at 6:00 p.m., and discussion/presentations at 7:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing you on September 14th.