Exclusion Clauses and Unfair Contract Terms 9th edition

It is an unusual dedication for a book '“ 'to the fourth movement of Mahler's Fifth', but clearly Richard Lawson has good taste in music. Exclusion clauses are one of the few areas most commercial lawyers really cannot avoid. Nothing is as commonly asked about by clients or debated in contract negotiations as the clauses excluding and limiting liability in commercial agreements. Thus it is not surprising that this book is now in its ninth edition.

The latest edition is up-to-date to 24 October 2008 and reflects recent case law. The book does mention the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. It came slightly late for the draft EU Consumer Rights Directive which intends to include the EU directive on unfair terms in consumer contracts with three other directives (distance selling, door-step selling and consumer guarantees) into one new directive. There is an impressive list of cases and a logical chapter sequence.

Chapters include incorporation of exclusion clauses, interpretation, avoidance and qualification of exclusion clauses, harsh and unconscionable bargains, unlawful exclusion clauses, void and ineffective clauses, UCTA in various aspects including the reasonableness test which is rightly given a chapter of its own, and lastly the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.

The chapter on reasonableness is perhaps most relevant to those drafting clauses who already know the basics such as ensuring liability for death, fraud etc. Unfortunately the footnote numbers seem to have gone awry, but the chapter includes useful recent cases and it is very helpful to have the cases described and set out in reasonable form.

The book includes the Regus v Epcot decision and other recent decisions.

All in all this is a very useful book.