Equine Law Blog
The right contract language can help avoid disputes or reduce your expense if a dispute should arise. Details can separate marginal contracts from effective ones. Details can also help prevent legal disputes. A key detail to consider for a contract is identifying the parties involved.
Surprisingly, many people in the horse industry fail to sign their own contracts properly. This can happen, for instance, when a professional signs breeding contracts, boarding contracts, sales agreements, or leases on behalf of an equine business but neglects to name the business entity as the true party to the contract. Here are some examples of how this problem can be prevented:
If the equine professional is a general partnership, the contracts can specify, for example:
Auspicious Show Horses, a Missouri General Partnership
By: _______________________________
Gene A. Winner, General Partner on Behalf of the Partnership
If the professional is a corporation, the contract can specify:
Auspicious Show Horses, Inc.,
a California corporation
By: _______________________________
Gene A. Winner, President
If the professional is a limited liability company, the contract can specify:
Auspicious Show Horses, LLC
A Michigan limited liability company
By: _______________________________
Gene A. Winner, Managing Member
By comparison, if the equine professional is a sole proprietor doing business under an assumed or fictitious name, the contract can state:
Sue Ellen Green, d/b/a Blue Ribbon Farms
By: _______________________________
Sue Ellen Green
Attention to these details can be critical factors in the validity of the contract. Not only will parties be better advised of the true identity of the other, but properly naming the business entity could help avoid legal challenges against the business entity’s individual proprietors.
Discuss these and other provisions of contracts with a knowledgeable lawyer.
ShareholderJulie Fershtman is considered to be one of the nation's leading attorneys in the field of equine law. She has successfully tried equine cases before juries in four states. A frequent author and speaker on legal issues, she has written ...
