Checklist: A Guide for Reviewing Contracts

Thorough contract review is important before your institution signs and legally agrees to anything in writing. This guide — which thoroughly covers routine contracts — can help those at your institution with contract review responsibilities to ensure that they are well-equipped to make the call on whether to sign.

Among the key items within the checklist:

• The contract’s core terms should be clear, accurate, and easy to understand.
• The contract’s purpose should be described completely and accurately.
• All documents, websites, or other resources referenced in the contract must be reviewed to confirm that they are consistent with the contract’s terms.
• The institution must be able to perform its promises within the contract’s duration and performance milestones.
• The contract should contain a risk allocation provision that is clearly written and easy to understand.
• Though supplemental review by an attorney may be necessary at times, routine contracts should be reviewed using this checklist by whoever is well-versed on the subject matter and integrally involved with the performance.