For trainees and junior lawyers · English law

Distribution Agreements

A coffee machine maker appoints a Dublin company its exclusive distributor for Ireland. You act for the maker.

How a maker sells abroad through an exclusive distributor, taught through one agreement, clause by clause.

The coffee machine maker's loading bay in Nottingham in April 2027, drawn as a section: the dock floor, the wall above the open door and the roof are cut and hatched. A trailer has backed on at the right, its rear open, and runs out of the picture; two pallets of boxed machines already stand inside it. The steel dock plate lies across the gap between the dock and the trailer's floor, its lip resting on the trailer, and its top edge is drawn in copper: the line where the risk in the machines passes to the distributor, on loading. A third pallet stands halfway across it on a pallet truck, its handle trailing back into the building. At the back of the bay is the dock office; in its window, on the counter, stands a kettle with a wisp of steam and a mug with a tea bag's tag hanging over the rim. No one is in the picture.

You will be able to:

  • Read a distribution agreement and say what each clause does
  • Explain what the maker and the distributor each want, and why
  • Spot the terms competition law forbids before signing

10 chapters with tests · a final exam · a certificate · about 3 hours in all · published 19 October 2026

Start Chapter 1

Chapters

Module 1

The Appointment

Module 2

Money and Goods

Module 3

When Things Go Wrong

Module 4

The Rest and the End

One case runs through every chapter: a coffee machine maker appoints a Dublin company its exclusive distributor for Ireland. Read the full Agreement →

Glossary: every term in plain English · Final exam: 30 questions, open book