Contract Amendment Question

[mcja]

Jurisdiction

Massachusetts

This is a very direct question about the language in an amendment to a statement of work.

This Amendment No. 1 was signed in Aug. 2020, but the original SOW Effective Date was signed Oct. 2018 (originally with 12 month auto-renewal terms, each renewal for 12 more months).

The amendment replaced the language in the term section of the original agreement to say "The SOW commences on SOW Effective Date and continues for 6 months" and then changed made the auto renewals 6 month renewals terms as well.

The amendment was effective as of Aug 2020, so the question is does this language means that the 6 month terms revert back and start in Oct. 2018, when the contract originally commenced? Or do they start from scratch, so the initial six month term starts Aug. 2020?

 

[Zigner]

If you are confused about the terms of a contract, then you should consult with an attorney.

Having said that, I don't see how it would even matter.

 

[justblue]

Home
^^
Link to the Massachusetts Bar Association.

 

[adjusterjack]

It doesn't make sense to change all the previous 12 months periods to 6 month periods.

My guess is that the new 6 month periods began in October 2020 which was the expiration of the then current 12 month period.

That the addendum was presented and signed in August 2020 was probably to give advanced notice of the change for administration purposes.

Or, could be something else.

 

[zddoodah]

Trying to respond to this without being able to review ALL of the relevant language in each document would be foolish.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

The above responses seem right on target. I'm guessing that you may be trying to ask whether the amendment means (i) that you're locked into a 12 month agreement beginning on August 2020 running through August 2021 versus (ii) being able to terminate end of February. My guess is that there may be a 30 day prior notice to termiante provision in the agreement which, if present, would mean your next time to consider termination is providing adequate notice before the August 2021 renewal. This is just a guess and, like others have said, the actual writing in the entire agreement is needed to be reviewed before anyone can make any firm conclusion.