INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ENGLISH

UNIT 6

Writing 2:

32 Dear Jenny

Compensation for early termination of agency contracts

Following our recent discussion, I understand that you would like to end
the current agreements with your agents in France, Spain and Portugal.
This should be done as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

As I confirmed during our meeting, your agents would be entitled to

compensation should you choose to end the agreements without first
giving notice. Under current regulations, each agent would be entitled to
full compensation for lost commissions that they would agreement.
They would also be entitled to recover any reasonable expenses
incurred whilst performing their duties as agents.

The contractual notice period is six months prior to the end of the
calendar quarter. Although you have just missed one calendar quarter,
this does not necessarily mean that you would have to compensate for
the (almost) full nine months. However, your agents might be more
willing to accept less generous terms if they were first given some notice
whilst still on full commission.

I would suggest offering a compensation package based on the following

terms:

* an initial notice period of three months under full commission, during

which time they would continue to fulfil their duties under your
agreement;

* a lump sum based on 50% of three months’ lost commissions

(calculated at the average monthly commission paid since the
commencement of the agency agreements);

* reasonable expenses
These terms should be enough to deter most agents from pursuing a
more generous settlement. If you think that there would be a reasonable
chance of your agents accepting a lower sum, I would be very pleased to
discuss this with you further.

Please do contact me should you have any questions on this.

Kind regards

Clive Sanborn