Recent case gives an affirmative nod on this common
question.
From a lawyer's perspective, in an ideal world, all business
relationships would have a clearly written and concise contract in
place setting out what the parties have agreed to do, what they are
getting paid and how any risks associated with the contract will be
managed. In reality, however, time and resource can get in the way
and many business relationships are carried out under contract
terms which are unclear or not appropriate for the work and in some
cases based only on a discussion or handshake or even nothing at
all. Quite often, the risks of carrying out work with deficient
contracts does not materialise as the work is done, the payments
are made and everybody stays happy. However, when issues do arise,
not having an appropriate document in place can make things a whole
lot worse and, if the parties end up litigating, a lot more
expensive. Parties can end up spending more time and money on
