Business Contracts: The Fundamental Building Blocks of Corporate Transactions
Legally binding contracts in every transaction
Business contracts sit at the heart of nearly every transaction a company makes, especially with other companies. Run a restaurant and take on a new produce supplier, and you’ll sign a distributor or supply agreement that spells out what they deliver, what you pay, and what happens if either side fails to perform. Hire a key employee and they may sign an employment contract, a non-compete and a confidentiality agreement, all designed to protect the business and set out what each side owes the other.
The risk scales with the business relationship
Almost every interaction with a customer, client or vendor involves a contract of some kind. The complexity varies with your industry and your size, from a one-page engagement letter to a binder-thick master agreement with a dozen exhibits, and the risk scales with it. The bigger the deal, the more it pays to have a business contracts attorney read every line of the contract terms before you’re contractually bound, because a written contract is only as good as the clauses inside it.
Popular Business Contracts
Non-Compete Agreements for Orlando Businesses and Non-Compete Violations
Businesses often ask employees to sign non-compete agreements at hiring, and in fields where employees develop products, processes or client relationships, that protection matters. Without an enforceable agreement, a former employee can walk sensitive information straight to a competitor. Our business contract lawyers write non-compete agreements that protect the company while still holding up in court, and our Orlando non-compete violation lawyers enforce them when they’re broken.
What makes a Florida non-compete enforceable
Florida enforces non-competes more readily than most states, but only when the agreement meets the statutory test. Under Florida’s restrictive covenant statute the agreement must be in a writing signed by the employee, it must protect a legitimate business interest such as trade secrets, confidential information, customer goodwill or specialized training, and it must be reasonable in time, geographic area and line of business.
For an ordinary employee, a restriction of six months or less is presumed reasonable and one longer than two years is presumed unreasonable. Since July 2025, Florida’s CHOICE Act adds a separate, more employer-friendly framework for employees earning more than twice their county’s average wage, with covenants of up to four years allowed if specific notice requirements are met.
Consideration and balance
The employee has to receive something in exchange for the promise not to compete. A new job offer is enough at hiring, but a non-compete presented to an existing employee should be supported by something new, such as a raise, a promotion or a bonus, so the agreement isn’t attacked later as unsupported.
An employer has a real interest in protecting customer relationships and proprietary information, and a former employee has a real interest in earning a living. A well-drafted non-compete balances the two, which is exactly what makes it enforceable.
Common Types of Business Contracts
Wondering which Orlando business contracts a small company actually needs? These come up most:
- Bill of sale. Created when goods are sold or transferred. Part invoice, part receipt, it records what changed hands, at what price and on what terms.
- Employment agreement. Sets out duties, compensation, hours, benefits, grounds for termination and any restrictive covenants.
- Distributor agreement. Defines what a distributor does for you, in what territory, for how long, and what each side owes the other.
- Commercial lease. The lease on your storefront, office or warehouse is a contract, and it’s usually written by the landlord. Have it reviewed before you sign a five-year commitment.
- Franchise agreement. Governs the relationship between a franchisor and a franchisee: fees, territory, supply chain, marketing, trademark use and termination. These are long and rarely negotiable without counsel.
- Partnership agreement. Partnership agreements and operating agreements set out ownership, capital contributions, distributions, decision-making, financial reporting, dispute resolution and what happens when a partner leaves.
There are hundreds of other contract types, and many of them are hard to read unless you do it for a living. A contract attorney Orlando business owners rely on, one who reads these documents every day, can tell you in one sitting what a document actually commits you to. Our guide to the types of business contracts is a good starting point.
Your Business Deserves Contracts That Actually Hold Up
Errors in the terms of the contract surface years later
An error or omission in a contract can turn into liability or financial loss years after it’s signed. If you hire a property manager for a real estate portfolio, for example, the management agreement should say who’s responsible when something goes wrong at a property and what steps you can take to recover. That’s a drafting question, and it costs far less to answer before a problem than after one.
When a contract dispute arises
When a contract dispute arises because the other party doesn’t live up to its obligations, you may need an Orlando contract disputes attorney. Most business disputes over a contract resolve through negotiation, but some end up in costly litigation, and the contract we prepared is the first thing the judge reads. If you need help with any kind of business agreement, don’t wait until the dispute.
Why Work With Legal Counsel, P.A.
Contract work is where drafting meets business litigation, and we do both. A business contract lawyer who has never been in a courtroom writes differently from one who has. Michele Diglio-Benkiran founded the firm and has practiced business and real estate law since 1999.
Richard Sierra is a commercial litigation and bankruptcy lawyer with more than three decades of experience, and having a litigator in the room when a contract is prepared means every clause is written with its enforcement in mind, including the indemnification clauses that decide who pays when something goes wrong.
Results matter, and so does responsiveness. We offer a free consultation, and pay later options are available for qualifying clients.
Serving Orlando and Central Florida Businesses
We draft and review contracts for companies across Orlando and Orange County and throughout Central Florida from our Winter Garden, Orlando and Seminole offices. Contract work is part of a broader business practice; our Orlando business attorneys also handle formation, business sales and litigation, so a contract we draft today is backed by a firm that can enforce it tomorrow.
