Aotearoa 2027 · Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch + online

Contract Law for Non-LawyersNew Zealand

Foundations and Advanced Practice — attend either day, or both.

Most people who manage contracts in Aotearoa were never trained in them. Two plain-English days with commercial lawyer Alan Prasad, grounded in New Zealand law — the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, the Fair Trading Act and the Government Procurement Rules.

First In rates end 30 October
“He was engaging, witty and made it all easy to understand.” Christchurch delegate, 2025. Read the reviews
6 hrsCPD per day
1 or 2days, booked separately
NZ$1,199from, + GST

Dates & venues

Day One · Day Two
Auckland
Tue 9 & Wed 10 Mar
Cliftons Auckland · Level 4, 45 Queen Street
Wellington
Mon 15 & Tue 16 Mar
Cliftons Wellington · Level 28, 100 Willis Street
Christchurch
Wed 17 & Thu 18 Mar
Breakfree on Cashel · 165 Cashel Street
Online
Tue 23 & Wed 24 Mar
Live on Zoom · 9am–5pm NZ time
Pick the day that fits

One masterclass, two separately bookable days

Day One

Foundations

For anyone who deals with contracts but has never been formally trained in them. No prior legal knowledge assumed.

  • When a contract exists under NZ law
  • The Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017
  • Government Procurement Rules and probity
  • Unfair terms under the Fair Trading Act
From NZ$1,299 + GST
See the agenda
Day Two

Advanced Practice

For people who work in contracts every day. If you have done Contract Law for Non-Lawyers before — with us or elsewhere — Day Two stands on its own.

  • Battle of the forms and interpretation
  • Strategic drafting, negotiation and redlining
  • Cancellation, remedies and enforcement
  • Advanced procurement and all-of-government contracts
From NZ$1,299 + GST
See the agenda
Best value
Both days

Confident to commanding

Build the foundations on Day One, then put them to work on Day Two. 12 CPD hours in total.

  • All ten topics across both days
  • Seven hands-on exercises on real scenarios
  • Save up to NZ$399, in person or online
From NZ$2,299 + GST
Book both days

In-person prices shown at First In rates, in New Zealand dollars. Live online from NZ$1,199. See all prices

Getting it signed off

Need your manager’s approval?

Send them a ready-made request — the course, dates, CPD hours and current price, already written. It opens in your email so you can edit it before you send.

Bringing your team?

Contract and procurement teams learn more together. Group discounts apply to every price. For ten or more, we bring the course to you.

10%3–4 delegates
15%5–9 delegates
In-house10+ delegates · your office or online
To book a group or ask about in-house delivery, email info@theleadershipinstitute.com.au or call +61 2 8294 2044.
About this course

It is your name on the file now

You signed it. Or you approved it, or you inherited it from someone who left. Either way — somewhere in those thirty pages is a clause nobody read closely, sitting quietly until the day it matters.

Most people who manage contracts in Aotearoa learned on the job. There is a difference between reading a contract and shaping one, and that gap is where the expensive mistakes live: the indemnity that was never capped, the cancellation right that only works one way, the email exchange that turned out to be a binding variation.

This masterclass closes that gap in plain English, grounded in New Zealand law. Attend either day on its own, or take both and go from confident to genuinely commanding.

Alan brings a trans-Tasman perspective too — where New Zealand and Australian law align, where they diverge, and the assumptions that catch people out contracting across the ditch.

CPD points

6 hrs per day · 12 for both

NZ lawyers may count it towards the 10 CPD hours required each year. The Law Society doesn’t accredit individual activities, so you record it in your own CPD plan. CA ANZ members may claim it as verifiable CPD. Every delegate receives a certificate of attendance.

The CPD year closes on 31 March — these March dates land just before it.

Full agenda

What you will cover

For anyone who deals with contracts but has never been formally trained in them. No prior legal knowledge assumed.

Assumes working familiarity with contract fundamentals. If you have done Contract Law for Non-Lawyers before — with us or elsewhere — Day Two stands on its own.

8:30 REGISTRATION · 9:00 START · 5:00 CLOSE
1Fundamentals of New Zealand Contract Law & Drafting EssentialsWhat a contract actually is under New Zealand law, and when you have already made one.
  • What makes a contract legally binding under New Zealand law
  • Core elements: offer, acceptance, consideration, intention to create legal relations, and capacity
  • The implications of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017
  • Distinguishing legally binding agreements from informal arrangements
  • The shift to plain English drafting, and overcoming ambiguity
Exercise: A case study identifying valid and invalid contracts under New Zealand law, with group discussion on the key legal takeaways.
2Procurement and Tendering — Legal Considerations in New ZealandWhere probity and legal risk sit in the process, before you issue or respond.
  • Understanding the ‘process contract’ principle in New Zealand tendering law
  • Legal and ethical obligations for fair process under the Government Procurement Rules
  • Managing risk during procurement — probity and transparency in public and private sectors
  • Legal considerations when responding to RFPs and submitting tenders
  • Recent New Zealand case law that has affected procurement decisions and outcomes
3Risky Clauses and How to Navigate ThemThe clauses that cause the most damage, and how to handle them.
  • Identifying high-risk clauses: indemnities, termination rights, penalties versus liquidated damages, force majeure and limitation of liability
  • Commonly misunderstood clauses in New Zealand contracts, and what they really mean
  • How to negotiate terms that protect your organisation’s interests
  • When are clauses considered unfair or unenforceable under New Zealand law?
  • The Fair Trading Act 1986 and the unfair contract terms provisions in business-to-business agreements
4Contract Disputes and Resolution in New ZealandWhat your options actually are when the other side stops performing.
  • What happens when contracts go wrong — remedies for breach under New Zealand law
  • New Zealand’s dispute resolution landscape: litigation, arbitration and mediation
  • The benefits of Alternative Dispute Resolution under New Zealand’s legal system
  • Cost, time and relationship considerations when resolving contractual disputes
Exercise: A mock mediation session illustrating dispute resolution dynamics in practice.
1Advanced Formation, Interpretation and Risk AllocationHow contracts really operate once the paperwork is disputed or unclear.
  • Formation through a commercial lens — when formation is disputed
  • Battle of the forms and conflicting terms: whose terms prevail?
  • Incorporation of terms — standard terms, policies, emails and course of dealing
  • Interpreting contracts in practice: ambiguity, context and commercial purpose
  • Entire agreement clauses, misrepresentation under the CCLA, mistake and estoppel
Exercise: Analyse a commercial scenario involving conflicting terms and determine whether a binding contract exists, and on what terms.
2Strategic Drafting and NegotiationMoving from reading contracts to shaping outcomes.
  • Drafting for clarity, certainty and enforceability — avoiding unintended consequences
  • Strategic use of definitions, schedules and boilerplate
  • Negotiation frameworks: positions versus interests
  • Identifying deal-breakers versus negotiables
  • Leveraging bargaining power, managing counterparties, and redlining efficiently
Exercise: Review and mark up a complex clause set, improving your risk position and the clarity of the drafting.
3Complex Clauses and Advanced Risk ManagementA deep dive into the clauses that are always heavily negotiated.
  • Advanced indemnities — scope, limitations, caps and exclusions
  • Limitation of liability: drafting enforceable caps
  • Consequential loss — what it really means and how New Zealand courts interpret it
  • Liquidated damages versus penalties, and warranties versus representations
  • Force majeure, change in law, insurance and risk transfer
Exercise: Identify and restructure the problematic clauses in a high-risk commercial contract.
4Contract Management, Cancellation and EnforcementWhat happens after signing — managing performance and protecting your position.
  • Contract lifecycle management from execution to completion
  • Early warning signs of breach or dispute
  • Cancellation under the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 — when the right arises and how to exercise it
  • Notices, cure periods and procedural compliance
  • Remedies, relief, without prejudice communications and settlement strategy
Exercise: Work through a breach scenario and determine the best commercial and legal response.
5Advanced Procurement, Probity and Public Sector ContractingWhere the real exposure sits when you are buying, tendering or spending public money.
  • The Government Procurement Rules in practice — obligations, exemptions and where agencies get caught
  • Probity in practice: conflicts, confidentiality and fair process
  • The ‘process contract’ revisited — advanced implications and how to exclude it
  • Handling unsuccessful tenderers, debriefs and challenges to a procurement decision
  • Contract variations and scope creep — the most common source of procurement disputes
  • Panel arrangements, syndicated contracts and all-of-government agreements
Exercise: Review a live procurement scenario, identify the probity and legal risks, and decide how you would run the process differently.
6Dispute Resolution StrategyDesigning the exit before you need it.
  • Drafting effective dispute resolution clauses
  • Choosing between litigation, arbitration under the Arbitration Act 1996, and ADR
  • Adjudication under the Construction Contracts Act 2002 — when it applies and what it means
  • Preparing for and succeeding in mediation
  • Managing legal costs and litigation risk
Why attend

Walk out able to

Day One — Foundations

Know when a contract actually exists under New Zealand law — and when an email, a quote or a course of dealing has already committed you
Understand what the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 changed, and what it means in practice
Navigate the Government Procurement Rules and the process contract principle before you issue or respond to a tender
Recognise when a clause is unfair or unenforceable under the Fair Trading Act 1986

Day Two — Advanced Practice

Draft with intent — move from reviewing what you are sent to shaping the outcome you want
Negotiate indemnities, liability caps and consequential loss with commercial confidence
Redline efficiently, and know which clauses are worth the fight and which are not
Manage cancellation, remedies and disputes strategically, and stay out of court

Who should attend

Professionals who deal with contracts in their daily role or through their business — with or without any legal training.

Job titles
General & Operations ManagersProcurement & Purchasing ManagersContract Administrators & ManagersProject & Programme ManagersCommercial & BD ManagersBusiness Owners & Managing DirectorsExecutive Assistants & Office Managers
Sectors
Central & local governmentConstruction, engineering & infrastructureCorporate & professional servicesHealth, aged care & communityEducation & trainingNot-for-profit & iwi organisationsRetail, manufacturing & primary industries
Alan Prasad, commercial lawyer and facilitator
Your facilitator

Alan Prasad

Principal & Lawyer, iTrain & Consult

With more than 20 years at the helm of award-winning commercial law firms and practice groups, Alan has advised on deals of every shape and size — from small businesses and SMEs through to mid-market companies with global operations. He works regularly with New Zealand clients and across the wider South Pacific, including cross-border transactions between Aotearoa and Australia.

An entrepreneur at heart, Alan has bought, sold and started businesses of his own across FMCG, education and professional services. He has signed the contracts, negotiated the exits and lived with the consequences — which is why his advice is practical and commercially grounded rather than purely theoretical.

What delegates enjoyed

Plain English. Real examples. A day that flies.

“We were surprised by how much we learned during the training. It would normally take two or three days to cover all these topics, but the dynamic nature of the course, the quality of the material and the experienced trainer made all the difference, and we managed to cover all the relevant topics in just one day.”Delegate, Christchurch, 2025
19 of 20delegates at our two 2024 courses rated Alan’s knowledge of the topics 5 out of 5.
“It was great. Answers were pitched at the level that was understood. Wide knowledge range — this meant there was always an actual example. I will admit to being a bit skeptical that an Australian presenter would be able to deliver on NZ Law. My skepticism was misplaced.”
Delegate, Auckland, 2025
“The trainer demonstrated a thorough understanding of the topics covered and answered all our questions very competently, which made us feel confident.”
Delegate, Christchurch, 2025
“He was interested in hearing our views, who we worked for and the challenges we faced in the contract space.”
Delegate, Christchurch, 2025
“Alan was very engaging, both during the presentations and on the breaks in between. His experience, and wealth of knowledge about the subject matter made this one of the best training courses I’ve attended.”
Delegate, Australia, 2024
“Great knowledge across all subjects covered, willing to engage in conversation when asked questions.”
Delegate, Christchurch, 2025
“For what can be considered a ‘dry’ subject, he kept us all engaged. He had knowledge, humour and the patience to answer our questions and give examples of real life experiences.”
Delegate, Australia, 2024
“I found Alan very knowledgeable on the topics.”
Delegate, Auckland, 2025
“He cleared up a lot of topics that I was unclear about for years.”
Delegate, Australia, 2024
“Great course with the right content.”
Delegate, Christchurch, 2025
“Fantastic course and Alan was so knowledgeable and engaging. I’ve been recommending the course to everyone in my professional network.”
Delegate, Australia, 2024
“He was engaging, witty and made it all easy to understand.”
Delegate, Christchurch, 2025
Pricing

Book early, pay less

All prices are in New Zealand dollars and exclude GST.

On sale now
First In
Until 30 October 2026
Day One onlyNZ$1,299NZ$1,199
Day Two onlyNZ$1,299NZ$1,199
Both daysNZ$2,299NZ$2,099
Both days saves NZ$299
On sale now
Early Bird
Until 29 January 2027
Day One onlyNZ$1,599NZ$1,399
Day Two onlyNZ$1,599NZ$1,399
Both daysNZ$2,799NZ$2,499
Both days saves NZ$399Both days saves NZ$299
On sale now
Standard
From 30 January 2027
Day One onlyNZ$1,849NZ$1,599
Day Two onlyNZ$1,849NZ$1,599
Both daysNZ$3,299NZ$2,799
Both days saves NZ$399

Booking 3 to 9 people? Group discounts apply to every price above. Ten or more? Ask about in-house delivery.

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Both days’ agenda, topic by topic
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On the day

In the room or on screen — same course

Contract law training in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch

Registration opens at 8:30am and each day runs 9:00am to 5:00pm. Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea are provided — let us know any dietary requirements at least 5 working days ahead. Dress code is business casual.

Auckland · 9–10 MarCliftons Auckland, Level 4, 45 Queen Street
Wellington · 15–16 MarCliftons Wellington, Level 28, 100 Willis Street
Christchurch · 17–18 MarBreakfree on Cashel, 165 Cashel Street

Online contract law course · live on Zoom, 23 & 24 March

Delivered live from 9:00am to 5:00pm New Zealand time. You take part in every discussion and exercise and receive the same certificate and CPD hours.

You’ll need a computer with a stable connection, a quiet room, a webcam (we ask everyone to join on camera) and headphones with a microphone.

Questions

Before you book

Is this course based on New Zealand law?

Yes. It is built around the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the Government Procurement Rules. Day Two covers cancellation under the CCLA, the Arbitration Act 1996 and adjudication under the Construction Contracts Act 2002. Alan also flags where New Zealand and Australian law differ.

Do I need any legal background?

No. Day One assumes no prior legal knowledge — it is built for people who manage contracts without formal training. Day Two assumes you already work with contracts day to day.

Can I book Day Two on its own?

Yes. Each day is separately bookable. If you have attended Contract Law for Non-Lawyers before — with us or elsewhere — Day Two stands on its own.

Is the online course the same as attending in person?

Yes. It runs live on Zoom from 9:00am to 5:00pm New Zealand time, you take part in all discussion and exercises, and you receive the same certificate and CPD hours. We ask everyone to join on camera.

Does it count towards my CPD?

Each day is 6 CPD hours, 12 for both. New Zealand lawyers may count it towards the 10 hours of CPD required each year; the Law Society does not accredit individual activities, so you record it in your own CPD plan. Chartered Accountants ANZ members may claim it as verifiable CPD. The CPD year closes on 31 March.

What is included on the day?

Registration opens at 8:30am and the day runs 9:00am to 5:00pm. Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea are provided. Please tell us any dietary requirements at least 5 working days before.

Can a colleague attend one day and me the other?

Yes — split registrations can be arranged. Contact us and we will set it up.

What if I can’t make it?

You can send a substitute at no cost, or transfer to another Leadership Institute event. Cancellations emailed to us receive a credit note valid for 12 months; within 14 days of the event the credit note is less a NZ$300 service fee. We do not provide cash refunds.

Do you offer group discounts or in-house training?

Yes. Groups of 3–4 save 10% and 5–9 save 15%. For ten or more, we run the course in-house for your team — at your office or online, on dates that suit you. Email info@theleadershipinstitute.com.au or call +61 2 8294 2044.

Stop reacting to contracts. Start shaping them.

First In rates end 30 October.