Module 2 · Chapter 8

Subject to Contract vs Without Prejudice in Negotiation

Two labels keep the talks safe. This chapter shows what each one does, what neither can undo, and why you read your client’s emails before they go.

≈ 6 min read 8-question test

In this chapter

  • What a label does to an email, and what it cannot take back
  • Why nothing binds either side until the new contract is signed
  • When to use “without prejudice”, and why only for the credits

8.1Two labels in one paragraph

Every email in the talks carries a label at the top, except the notice that extends the current contract, which must bind. Most labels say “subject to contract”, to keep them from binding anyone. One says “without prejudice”, because it tries to settle a dispute. But neither label can take back what an email tells the other side, so Hennacott reads Polgarrow’s emails before they go.

Key point

A label decides whether an email binds. It cannot decide what the email gives away.

Also in this chapter

  1. A label cannot take back what an email says
  2. Nothing binds until the new contract is signed
  3. “Without prejudice”: for the credits only
  4. Your job

Preview

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