01
Scope is assumed instead of agreed.
The proposal, email thread and client expectations describe the work differently. Deliverables, exclusions and client inputs remain open to interpretation.
Contracts that operate.
Make scope, evidence, acceptance, payment and change clear before the work starts.
Commercial contract attorneys for reviews, agreement builds and recurring contract work, handled by the same attorney.
Drag the sheet, test a clause, and watch the schedule return to form when pressure lifts.
The interactive document is unavailable in this browser. The clause descriptions remain available in the document structure.
Advising project-based teams in
Software and implementation partners
Engineering and technical firms
Agencies and studios
Consulting and advisory firms
IT and managed service providers
The dispute appears late. The failure starts early.
Vague scope, unclear acceptance, payment that depends on opinion rather than proof, and change requests drifting through email do not feel dramatic at kickoff. They become expensive when delivery and payment no longer agree.
02
Acceptance depends on opinion instead of proof.
Completion has no agreed evidence, review window or valid reason for rejection. The work may be finished while approval and payment remain discretionary.
03
Change reaches delivery before it reaches the contract.
Another round, feature or workshop enters the project through email. The work changes immediately; the fee, deadline and written scope do not.
A contract should not just describe the deal. It should run the work.
Start with the contract in front of you.
Review it before you sign. Build it properly before kickoff. When contracts keep arriving, use a Contracts Desk for ongoing attorney support. If the process itself needs work, redesign the contract flow.
Before signature
Contract Review
Review your agreement before you sign, showing where scope, acceptance, payment or change are exposed and what should be fixed in the negotiation.
From R7,500Fixed-fee work
- Plain-English commercial summary
- Scope, evidence, acceptance, payment and change risk map
- Specific legal flags where relevant
- Recommended fixes and fallback positions
Before kickoff
Agreement Build
Turn your proposal, SOW, service model or client paper into a service agreement or SOW package built around how the work will happen.
From R18,500Fixed-fee work
- Structured intake and scoping call
- One service agreement or SOW package in a defined lane
- Deliverables, evidence, acceptance, payment and change terms
- Attorney-reviewed plain-English deal summary
When contracts keep arriving
Contracts Desk
Ongoing review, drafting, redlines and negotiation support for businesses with recurring customer or supplier contracts.
From R25,000per month
- Defined monthly contract queue
- Agreed response and turnaround bands
- Reviews, drafts, redlines and negotiation notes
- Reusable clauses, fallback positions and SOW packs
- Clear exclusions for disputes and litigation
A new brand.
Established judgement.
Operative.law is a new public brand. Its attorneys are not new to the work. Every matter is handled by an admitted attorney. Nothing is routed to an anonymous drafting queue.
Paul Kruger
Admitted attorney (South Africa), LLM · Cross-Border Transactions · Legal Tech Implementation · Building Agreemint.dev
Christoph Martin Hellmann
Rechtsassessor (Ass. iur.) · Fully qualified in German law; not admitted to a Rechtsanwaltskammer · Legal engineering and digital workflows · German client work.
Anrea Kruger
Admitted attorney (South Africa) · Former Investec Legal · Banking, finance & lending transactions · Property transactions.
What buyers ask before they start.
Short answers about fees, agreement builds, ongoing support, contract workflows and implementation boundaries.
How much does a fixed-fee contract review cost in South Africa?
Operative.law offers Contract Review from R7,500 fixed fee. The engagement includes a plain-English commercial summary, a risk map covering scope, evidence, acceptance, payment and change, specific legal flags where relevant, and recommended fixes and fallback positions. The published amount is a starting price, not a quote for a specific matter.
Can Operative.law draft a service agreement or statement of work?
Yes. Agreement Build starts from R18,500 and begins with a structured intake and scoping call. It turns a proposal, statement of work, service model or client paper into one service agreement or SOW package. The work sets out deliverables, evidence, acceptance, payment and change terms, with an attorney-reviewed plain-English deal summary.
Do you offer ongoing contract support, like a retainer?
Contracts Desk is the recurring option: from R25,000 per month for a defined monthly queue of reviews, drafting, redlines and negotiation support, with agreed turnaround bands, reusable clauses, fallback positions and SOW packs. Disputes and litigation are excluded. If the problem is the contracting process itself, Contract Flow Design is the more relevant engagement.
What is Contract Flow Design, and when is it useful?
Contract Flow Design is a scoped engagement for recurring contract work. Operative.law maps intake, ownership, approvals, templates, legal-review points, records and handover into delivery, then designs a clearer operating flow around them. It is useful when agreements depend on inboxes, individual memory, unclear ownership or improvised approvals. It is attorney-designed workflow work, not a software product.
Can Operative.law help evaluate and implement a contract workflow?
Yes. Operative.law can assess an existing workflow, identify control gaps and define what information, responsibility, approval, legal review, template, record and handover each stage requires. The engagement can include workflow design, technology evaluation and agreed implementation work. Software development, system configuration and production integration are included only when expressly scoped.
Make the contract run the work.
Tell us what the contract needs and when the deal must move. Written scope, fee and timing follow a conflict check.
Prefer email? paul@operative.law