The widespread use of word processing technology has allowed law firms to organise precedents carefully for quick retrieval. In addition, the Internet has made it possible to benefit from the collective research of countless other lawyers who have made their work product available online. This digitised, intellectual capital is an invaluable and time-saving source for lawyers.

LEARNING SYNOPSIS
This exercise examines how to acquire English language legal forms and model documents using meta-search techniques and open web searches.

EXERCISE
The years of hard work your firm has committed to cultivating start-up technology clients have paid off. Many of your clients have grown into highly innovative and profitable companies, and are now being purchased, or being targeted for purchase, by companies in North America, Asia, and the Nordic region. This will provide not only an excellent source of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) work, but will open up the possibilities of acquiring new clients and revenue from abroad.

In order to benefit from this new market, your firm has developed a plan of measures with an emphasis on its own infrastructure: better data processing and retrieval systems, more efficient communications, and the expansion of its form documents database and digital library.

You have been appointed to collect and catalogue standard contract terms and conditions in English relating to M&A, buying and selling businesses and consumer agreements.

1) Use the Internet to find an example contract for each of the following:

• an agreement to sell/purchase a business;
• an agreement of merger and plan of reorganisation;
• a consumer loan agreement.

2) Ensure that each of the example contracts you have collected includes a provision detailing remedies available in case of breach of contract.