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• Category: News & deals
  • Bribery and corruption: How distributors and agents can land their suppliers and principals in hot water
  • Win for Fox Williams at European Court of Justice
• Category: Webinars on demand
  • Watch now: Agents and distributors – the issues affecting businesses today
  • Listen now: Stephen Sidkin on kbb review ‘All change for online pricing…’
  • Listen now: Steve Sidkin on kbb review’s podcast on online pricing
  • Watch now: agentlaw seminar
• Category: Articles
  • Limiting your liability – are you sure you are using the right language?
  • A Win-Win for Agents and Principals: The UK Government upholds the Commercial Agents Regulations.
  • Implications of AI agents for agency agreements
  • Tariffs, distributors, and agents – what are we facing?
  • Agency termination: some new thoughts on whether a principal can reduce an agent’s claim for compensation or indemnity
  • How to protect exclusive distributorship or supply agreement from breach
  • Deregulating the Commercial Agents Regulations? A bad idea
  • Navigating anticipatory breach
  • Suppliers, distributors, principals, agents, wholesalers, retailers – why you are now at greater risk of committing a criminal offence
  • RTVs and distributors
  • For agency and distributorship agreements what is good faith?
  • Return To Vendor: what RTVs mean for agents and their principals?
  • Selling online – the intellectual property issues for brands and their distributors
  • Text and context – what is important for agency and distribution agreements
  • Agency agreement – written or unwritten?
  • Resale price maintenance – has the position changed?
  • Agency and distributorship agreements and a low growth economy
  • Excluding contractual liability – watch your language
  • Defective termination notices: navigating contractual and common law grounds amidst repudiatory breaches
  • The Commercial Agents Regulations: alive and kicking
  • Agency termination and indemnity – are there ways to reduce the amount payable?
  • Still think you’re exclusive? Think again
  • New developments in an agent’s entitlement to post-termination commission?
  • Principals and agents: the position following an administration
  • Think you’re exclusive? Think again!
  • Does an agent always have an entitlement to commission on repeat transactions?
  • Data protection clauses in agency and distributorship agreements: what do parties need to consider?
  • Is a sub-agent entitled to a share of an indemnity payment if a commercial agent is terminated?
  • When does an agent lose the right to compensation or indemnity?
  • “Pure” intermediaries  v. commercial agents
  • Information as to commission
  • The enforceability of non-compete restrictions in agency, distribution, supply and franchise agreements
  • Changes in UK competition law – what it means for suppliers and distributors
  • The unusual effects of high inflation on agency and distributorship agreements
  • Online platforms – agents and distributors? 
  • Selling instore or online – can distributors and retailers be charged different prices by manufacturers and suppliers?
  • Distributors and suppliers – how can you terminate an unwritten contract?
  • Russia – Ukraine: the impact of sanctions for suppliers and distributors on payments and order cancellations
  • Minimum purchase requirements – can suppliers squeeze out underperforming distributors?
  • How to change an agency agreement
  • Supply chain changes
  • National Insurance Contributions increase – a reason to appoint agents
  • Act in haste, repent at leisure
  • Terminating agents and distributors – can Covid and Brexit reduce the cost?
  • Secret commissions, half-secret commissions, and agency
  • Stuck in the middle with you: Suppliers, distributors, and resale prices – part 3
  • What is the law of travel agency and what do you need to know? Part 4: what is the relationship between the travel agent and consumer?
  • What is the law of travel agency and what do you need to know? Part 3: what is the status of the principal in travel agency contracts?
  • What is the law of travel agency and what do you need to know? Part 2: how do I become a travel agent, and what if I create package holidays?
  • Conflicted out – how to avoid being caught by acting for two or more competitors
  • What is the law of travel agency and what do you need to know? Part 1: the basics of an agency relationship
  • Literary agent agreements
  • The Ever Given and the consequences for agency and distributorship contracts
  • Sales targets – the way to dispense with underperforming agents?
  • New costs and burdens in trade with EU distributors and suppliers – should you vary or terminate your agreements?
  • The EU / UK Trade Agreement: Two myths busted – Rules of Origin
  • The EU / UK Trade Agreement: Three myths busted – exporting and importing
  • The free trade deal with the EU is the equivalent of arthritis – you can still do most of what you did before, but it just takes a bit longer and is more painful!
  • The Commercial Agents Regulations 1993 in a post-Brexit world – Stephen Sidkin and Emma Roake write in LexisNexis
  • Why should software houses revise their agreements with resellers?
  • Wake-up call for the software industry
  • Could the Commercial Agents Regulations have resulted in Liverpool FC losing?
  • How not to draft an agency contract
  • HMRC changes its policy towards the VAT treatment of compensation payments and early termination fees
  • How not to renegotiate the terms of a distributorship or supply agreement
  • When is an agent owed a duty of good faith by the principal?
  • Who or what is a commercial agent so far as the law is concerned?
  • Does agreement for the agent to inspect the principal’s accounts offer adequate protection?
  • Moore v Piretta
  • An opportunity for distributors: the unexpected result of Covid-19
  • Your banking and debt finance arrangements and Covid-19: key points for borrowers
  • Stephen Sidkin speaking at UIA webinar – Covid-19: Legal challenges for the fashion industry
  • Order cancellation and Covid-19: is commission still payable to an agent?
  • Payments and order cancellations: what are suppliers and distributors thinking about at present?
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute blog: Risk of criminal liability when acting as a distributor
  • Fox Williams’ response to COVID-19
  • Cookies: what do businesses have to do to comply?
  • Using an agent or distributor – commit a criminal offence
  • Agents and disability: what is the position?
  • Agents and sub-agents – what are the issues?
  • The opportunties presented by Brexit – Stephen Sidkin writes in DB Reader
  • Imposing resale prices
  • Can you be awarded damages for loss of profit and compensation under the Commercial Agents Regulations 1993?
  • Agency and distribution – the opportunities presented by Brexit
  • Compensation under the Regulations – what is the calculation?
  • Stephen Sidkin article featured in agentbase: Working together – can the place where an agent works affect his status as a commercial agent?
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, July 2019
  • When can the Commercial Agents Regulations be applied and what are the implications?
  • When can a contract be terminated due to a repudiatory breach?
  • Why Heads of Terms can fail to give certainty to a relationship
  • UK Supreme Court considers if software should be considered as goods or services following successful application by The Software Incubator
  • How can principals ‘squeeze’ the agency to reduce payments to agents?
  • Stephen Sidkin writes in Cabinet Maker – Working Together
  • The importance of certainty in contract terms
  • The peril of trial periods
  • Selective distribution agreements: How to retain control of your brand integrity and avoid a substantial fine
  • Can suppliers avoid their contractual obligations to distributors after 29 March 2019?
  • When can you not say you agree?
  • Working together – can the place where an agent works affect his status as a commercial agent
  • Why the non application of the Commercial Agents Regulations might continue to be bad news for principals
  • Uncertainty for UK agents post-Brexit
  • Placing yourself in conflict with your principal
  • Stephen Sidkin writes in Footwear Today – Agency termination: why it is important to know when it has happened
  • Stephen Sidkin writes in Footwear Today – Brexit: Find solutions to the potential chaos
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, September 2018
  • Can a seller of goods ever be an agent?
  • Stephen Sidkin speaking at the European Commercial Law Summer School in Cambridge
  • Brexit and your business contracts
  • Brexit: Agency & Distributorship Agreements
  • No Oral Modification clauses
  • Does age matter any more to agents?
  • New Partner and Director promotions demonstrate core values of great client service and its people
  • Agency termination: why it is important to know when it has happened
  • Software agents now not entitled to statutory protection
  • Stephen Sidkin writes for Furniture News: Top tips for terminating agents
  • Governing law and jurisdiction: why getting it right is critical for cross-border contracts
  • Top tips for terminating agents – what principals need to know
  • How selective can a selective distribution system be?
  • Stephen Sidkin quoted in Equestrian Trade News – Upmarket brands win right to block third party retailing
  • Distributors entitled to compensation following termination of distributorship agreements
  • What is the entitlement of a commercial agent to commission if the principal does not get paid by the customer?
  • Secret commissions in agency – the oldest trick in the book
  • Why the non application of the Commercial Agents Regulations can still be bad news for principals
  • Selective distribution – preserving the “aura of luxury”
  • Commissionaire agents – treading a middle ground between commercial agents and distributors
  • Nike, Sanrio and Universal Studios join Guess in EU Commission probe
  • Guess are at risk if they are found to have contravened the EU rules- Fashion Law Partner Steve Sidkin quoted in Drapers
  • EU Commission asks questions of Guess
  • Appointing an exclusive agent: what are the issues to look out for?
  • When can you rely on implied terms for what is not in the contract?
  • Agents outside European Union: protected by EU Law?
  • Agents and distributors: the issues of confidential commercial information and personal data
  • Why relying on a distribution agreement “on a handshake” could be risky
  • What does your distributorship agreement say? And are you exposed?
  • Acting for two or more principals
  • Calculating compensation on agency termination – is four the new normal?
  • Resale price maintenance can be lawful
  • Illegal price fixing
  • Price fixing and minimum prices, £3million+ of fines, and the online channel
  • Software agents now entitled to statutory protection
  • When is a new customer not a new customer?
  • House accounts, taking customers back from an agent
  • A vital lesson for principals
  • When a trading relationship amounts to a distributorship
  • Agents, indemnity, and additional damages
  • Compensation or indemnity in agency contracts, the issue continues
  • Can you rely on a non-compete restriction against an agent?
  • The liability of distributors, minimum purchase requirements
  • The issue of time: critical timing issues in agency agreements
  • The lesser of two evils: is compensation or indemnity better for principals on termination?
  • Supplier and distributor: when things turn sour
  • EU Commission report into Agency Directive
  • Nai or Oxi – The Greek fall out
  • Could you face an overseas tax bill?
  • Franchisors face damages claims from German franchisees
  • Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right – Part 2
  • The 3 golden rules for getting the most out of your agents
  • Appointing distributors outside the UK: what you need to know
  • Interaction between a distributorship agreement and the supplier’s terms and conditions of sale
  • Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right – Part 1
  • The unexpected employment cost of terminating a distributorship agreement
  • Principals beware the misuse of personal data
  • How do you negotiate?
  • Falling in with the wrong crowd – don’t get slammed by sanction regimes
  • Entitled no matter what – Part 2
  • Implied duty of good faith – what is the current position for distributors?
  • Crossing borders – issues to be considered by UK principals and suppliers when appointing foreign agents and distributors
  • Preservation of documents – from hoarders to heroes
  • In sickness and in wealth?
  • No way out?
  • The exposure of sub-agents
  • Exclusive Jurisdiction Clauses – The New Trump Card
  • Software – goods or services?
  • The value of compensation
  • Closing doors: a conflict of laws
  • Customer orders – managing the gap between placement and fulfilment – issues that arise
  • Distributors to gain from home advantage where agreement with supplier is silent on jurisdiction
  • Timing is everything
  • Messy relationships – uncertainties at the start and end of the agency relationship
  • Principals and suppliers beware: Litigation funding now available for medium sized agency and distributorship cases
  • Russian action shows need for an exit strategy
  • Competition law and its effect on agency agreements
  • Entitled no matter what – Part 1
  • It’s in writing
  • Looking for the best of all worlds can leave you in a worse position
  • What period of notice does a party have to give to terminate a supply or distributorship agreement
  • Just when principals thought it was safe
  • Are you being sued Top tips on handling a High Court claim
  • Bribery and the sales agent
  • Calculating compensation
  • European Commission proposes review of EU Agents Directive
  • Compensation and non-compete restrictions
  • The age of wealth
  • Turn and face the change – Will agents, distributors, and franchisees benefit from the new Court rules?
  • Distributors gain a new power
  • Exiting a franchise agreement
  • The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? How to successfully challenge witness statements
  • The Power of Disclosure: How the completion of disclosure and potentially damaging documents may help agents drive up the price of settlement
  • Tips for the principle on reducing an agents claim for compensation or an indemnity
  • One strike and you’re out – Always sue in the correct name!
  • Financing litigation – the changes
  • Michael Edwards v International Connection (UK) Limited
  • Use agents: Save tax and make money
  • All aboard and online? How do agency relationships fit in with the new online sales playing field?
  • Do you know what your agent is up to?
  • Agency Litigation: The Dos and Don’ts of Disclosure
  • Use it or lose it: Terminating agents for poor performance? Why the credibility of the principal is key
  • Maximising the performance of your distributors
  • Did I agree to that? The impact of governing law and jurisdiction clauses
  • Make a choice – otherwise you might not like what you get – governing law in agency contracts
  • Indemnity calculations: the value of new customers and increased business with existing customers
  • The importance of being honest: how credible is your witness?
  • Voyageurs, placements & representants v commercial agents
  • Consignment agents and the Commercial Agents Regulations – a tough sell?
  • Third party litigation funding: what is it and how does it work?
  • Can the use of s..t get you in deep shite
  • Agent Law Newsletter July 2010
  • Does an agent lose the benefit of the Regulations if he acts for more than one competing principal?
  • Consider early what will happen should your distribution agreement comes to an end
  • How to deal with a Subject Access Request (“SAR”) made by an agent?
  • Resolving agency disputes: Why? When? How?
  • Clarifying commission
  • Secondary Activities of Commercial Agents
  • The First Cases
  • The spinning pendulum
  • A Game of Two Halves
  • Calculating Compensation for Commercial Agents
  • When is an agent not a distributor
  • A curates egg
  • What is Reasonable Notice in a Distributorship Agreement?
  • In sickness and in wealth
  • Top Tips for Giving Notice of an Intention to Claim Compensation
  • Is an agent still entitled to its indemnity when it commits a breach of contract during its notice period?
  • The European Court sorts out the questions of where agents operating in several EU countries should be sued
  • Compensation – determining the amount payable
  • A Knock Out Blow For Nintendo
  • Claramoda Ltd v Zoomphase Ltd
  • Agency Agreements in Argentina
  • Contracts are you sure what terms you are working under
  • Seizing jurisdiction in the EU: race to the court room
  • Agent and distributor beware: is your principal or supplier considering selling products online?
  • Agent and distributor bribery: The need for principals and suppliers to protect themselves
  • To indemnity and beyond? Is compensation or a lump sum indemnity better on termination
  • Force majeure – have it or lose it
  • Access to Justice: Funding Litigation
  • A servant of two masters
  • TUPE and commercial agents
  • Principles of Competition
  • Are sub-agents covered by the Regulations?
  • Gledhill v Bentley Designs
  • I Think That’s What We Said
  • The Bribery Act 2010
  • Equal Opportunities for Agents?
  • Chevassus-Marchs Heirs v Groupe Danone (C-19/07)
  • Know Where You Stand
  • Principals Behaving Badly? A practical guide for agents to the Commercial Agents Regulations
  • Sagal v Atelier Bunz
  • The Legacy of Botched Drafting
  • House of Lords decision: Lonsdale v Howard & Hallam Limited
  • Governing law and jurisdiction: Getting it right is crucial
  • Push Me, Pull You
  • The Applicability of the Regulations
  • A failure of performance
  • Courts Clarify Commercial Agents Regulations Commercial Agents Regulations
  • Page v Combined Shipping & Trading Co Limited
  • The principal’s obligations in respect of commission
  • Francesca Caprini v Conservatore Camera di Commercio, Instria, Artigianto e Agricoltura (CCIAA)
  • Accentuate Limited v Asigra Inc – A case of goods v services and the effect of a foreign arbitration claim on the agent
  • Bellone v Yokohama
  • BCM Group Plc v Visualmark Limited and Anor
  • The meaning of goods
  • Brand names can impact on indemnity payments to agents
  • Colin Stewart Hunter v Zenith Windows Limited
  • Mr Guy Turner v Steinhoff UK Furniture Limited
  • What is mediation and how does it work?
  • Agency in tatters – top ten practical tips when things start to go wrong
  • Stuart Light and Others v Ty Europe Limited
  • Barret McKenzie v Escada (UK) Limited
  • Regulating Distributorship Agreements
  • Agency Agreement Checklist
  • Duffen v Frabo SpA (No 2) 2000 1 Lloyds Rep 180
  • Mercantile International Group Plc v Chuan Soon Huat Industrial Group Plc
  • Raoul Sagal (Trading as Bunz UK) v Atelier Bunz GMBH
  • A Breeding Ground for Uncertainty
  • After the Event Insurance, Third Party Funding and Conditional Fee Agreements
  • Bell Electric Limited v Aweco Appliance Systems GMBH & CO
  • Q&A: How best to deal with an agent/supplier relationship breakdown
  • Pace Airline Services v Aerotrans Luftfahrtagentur GmbH
  • Lloyd Gailey v Environmental Waste Controls and Others
  • The Extent Of The Regulations
  • Taking back the keys to the castle
  • AMB Imballaggi Plastici SR v PacflexL Limited
  • Appointment of a distributor overseas: Are distributors protected on termination?
  • Agents’ Angle on Consolidation
  • Parks v Esso Petroleum Company Limited
  • Trade Names, Distributorship and Agency Agreements
  • Using swine flu to avoid contractual obligations?
  • The Laws of Intermediation
  • AMB Imballagi v Pacflex
  • Stewart Roy v Pearlman
  • Alternatives to litigation
  • Abbey Life v Yeap
  • Act in leisure, repent in haste? Accepting or rejecting a breach of contract
  • Abbott v Condici Ltd and Another
  • Centrosteel Srl v Adipol GmbH
  • Employees and commercial agents
  • Data protection – are you adequately protecting personal information?
  • Julian Smith v Reliance Water Controls Limited
  • Douglas King v Tunnock Limited (2000) S L T 744
  • Goods v Services
  • Failing to provide for retiring agents
  • Tigana v Decoro
  • Distributorship Agreement Checklist
  • Bribery Act latest
  • Using force majeure to protect your business
  • PJ Pipe and Valve Co Limited v Audco India Ltd
  • Agents behaving badly – A practical guide to the Commercial Agents Regulations for principals contemplating termination
  • Scottish Power Energy Retail Limited v Taskforce Contracts Limited
  • Imageview Management Ltd v Kelvin Jack
  • Hackett v Advanced Medical Computer Systems Ltd
  • The Commercial Agents Regulations
  • Tony Vick v Vogle-Gapes Ltd
  • Commercial Agents Conference 2006
  • The Tax Consequences of Payments Under The Commercial Agents Regulations
  • Jackson Distribution Limited V Tum Yeto Inc
  • Top tips for dealing with agency disputes
  • Tamarind International Limited and Others v Eastern Natural Gas (Retail) Limited and Eastern Energy Limited
  • David Devers v Electricity Direct (UK) Limited
  • Robert John Kingsley v KJC Carpets Limited
  • One Step Back
  • Closing the Holes in the Gruyere
  • Compensation for Commercial Agents
  • Ingmar GB Limited v Eaton Leonard Inc
  • Termination of agency agreement without liability for compensation
  • Cerascope Ltd v Todagres S.A.
  • Staying in Harmony
  • The Sub-Agent’s Enigma
  • Category: Technical guides
    • Disintermediation
    • Distributorship Agreements in the EU
    • Commercial Agents Regulations
• Category: Blog
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, December 2020
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, April 2020
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, March 2020
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, February 2020
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, January 2020
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, December 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, November 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, October 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, September 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, August 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, July 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, June 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, May 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, April 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, March 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, February 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, January 2019
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, December 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, November 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, October 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, August 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, July 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, June 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, June 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, May 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, April 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, March 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, February 2018
  • Suppliers supply and distributors distribute – a regular blog, January 2018
• Category: Events
  • agentlaw seminar – Principals and agents, suppliers and distributors: answers and directions at a time of uncertainty
  • agentlaw seminar: Principals and agents, suppliers and distributors – the issues for 2024
  • Category: Events we’re speaking at
    • Stephen Sidkin to speak at the 68th UIA Congress in Paris
    • Stephen Sidkin to speak at 2024 IDI Annual Conference in Prague
    • Steve Sidkin speaking at the AGM of the Paper & Board Association
    • Category: Events we have spoken at
      • Watch now: Distributor and Agent Law with a Business Lawyer
      • Latest issues affecting manufacturers and their distributers and agents
      • Drafting effective international contracts – Stephen Sidkin spoke at UIA seminar
      • How to work with agents and distributors in the EU post-Brexit
  • Category: Past events
    • Watch now: Agentlaw webinar: How to get out of agency agreements – the ‘what and why’ principals and agents need to know