This is a Precedent service level agreement (SLA) suitable for use as a schedule or clauses in a larger agreement or, with modifications, as a standalone agreement. Service levels are the specific standards to which certain elements of services must be performed; they should supplement a broader description of the services provided to a customer and are usually included as a schedule in a services agreement. A failure of the supplier to meet service levels usually results in a service credit becoming due to the customer (see below). For guidance on drafting service level schedules in outsourcing agreements and the issues that should be considered, see Practice Note: Ireland—Service levels in outsourcing. See also Practice Notes: Ireland—Negotiation guide: IT contracts and Ireland—Negotiation guide: services agreements (as applicable). This is a generic SLA, adaptable to various types of service levels. More specific SLA Precedents are available for: (i) break/fix support services for hardware/software; and (ii) availability (uptime) service levels in software as a service (SaaS) agreements. See Precedents: Ireland—Service level agreement—hardware/software fault resolution support services and Ireland—Service level agreement—availability (uptime)

This Precedent service level agreement (SLA) is suitable for use as a service level schedule where the supplier is providing software as a service (hosted at the supplier’s location). It provides for an availability/uptime service level, with service credits. It includes exclusions and reporting requirements. It is generally pro-supplier but provides various options from a customer perspective. It can be read alongside the Practice Note: Ireland—Key issues in SaaS and hardware/software maintenance SLAs. See also the ‘Service levels and service credits’ section of Practice Note: Ireland—Negotiation guide: IT contracts. A failure of the supplier to meet service levels usually results in a service credit becoming due to the customer (see below). What should be measured? Only certain services, or parts of them, are capable of being measured. The benefits of a service level regime will be lost if there are too many service levels (in which case, they will become too costly and difficult to measure) or if the services being measured cannot be accurately quantified. An availability/uptime service level is

This Precedent service level agreement (SLA) is suitable for use as a schedule, or the clauses can be incorporated into a larger agreement, or included as an annex to a statement of work/order document, depending on the contract structure. It is intended for use where the supplier is supporting a system (hardware and/or software) located at the customer’s premises (rather than hosted by the supplier) whether that system is the supplier’s own manufactured hardware and/or software or a third party’s (or a combination). It provides for a break/fix fault resolution support service with service levels and service credits. It also includes customer obligations, exclusions and reporting. It can be read alongside the Practice Note: Ireland—Key issues in SaaS and hardware/software maintenance SLAs. See also the ‘Service levels and service credits’ section of Practice Note: Ireland—Negotiation guide: IT contracts This Precedent assumes that the supplier is providing service levels based on the time to respond to, and the time to resolve, faults in the supported system. A failure of the supplier to

This Practice Note focuses on the key issues to consider when structuring service levels and remedies for failure to achieve them in outsourcing contracts. When drafting service level agreements (SLAs), relevant considerations will include the type of service level(s), what to measure, cost and quality, outcomes and outputs, how service levels are measured, service credits and other remedies, earn back and performance bonuses and changes to service levels during the contract term. The specific measurements and metrics used in SLAs will depend on the type of services. It is drafted to apply to any form of outsourcing and does not specifically focus on IT services (although what is discussed here is relevant in that context). For IT specific service level content, see Practice Note: Ireland—Key issues in SaaS and hardware/software maintenance SLAs and Precedents: Ireland—Service level agreement—hardware/software fault resolution support services and Ireland—Service level agreement—availability (uptime) service level for SaaS. The service level schedule is one of the most important in an outsourcing contract. It governs measurement of the supplier’s quality of service against specified

This Practice Note offers guidance on serving documents in Irish civil proceedings within the jurisdiction of Ireland. It considers the steps necessary for formal service and the timescales which must be adhered to in the District Court, Circuit Court and High Court. It considers the formal requirements of the rules as well as some procedural routes to address circumstances where compliance may prove difficult or impossible. It is not within the scope of this note to address service of applications or motions once proceedings are in being, nor does it address service of appeal papers. For guidance on: • bringing a civil claim in an Irish court, see Practice Note: Ireland—Starting a civil action • serving proceedings outside Ireland, see Practice Note: Ireland—Service of proceedings outside Ireland Key: • DCR—District Court Rules • Circuit Court Rules • Rules of the Superior Court Objective of service of proceedings It has been stated that the object of service is ‘to bring home to defendants the nature of the proceedings and

This Practice Note outlines the rules that apply when proceedings brought in Ireland are required to be served on parties out of the jurisdiction. It considers when leave of the court may be required to issue and serve the proceedings out of the jurisdiction and how is service to be effected outside the jurisdiction, including the rules under the Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 (the Service Regulation (recast)) and the Hague Service Convention. For guidance on service of proceedings in Ireland, see Practice Note: Ireland—Service of proceedings in Ireland. For guidance on cross-border litigation, see Practice Note: Ireland—Cross-border litigation. Key: • DCR—District Court Rules • SI 510/2001 (IRL), Circuit Court Rules • SI 15/1986 (IRL), Rules of the Superior Court Service rules—service outside of Ireland It may sometimes be necessary for proceedings brought in Ireland to be served on parties out of the jurisdiction. The rules regarding service depend on where those parties are domiciled. For certain countries, leave of the court is required prior to issuing and serving the proceedings

This Precedent services agreement—one-off supply—pro-customer is intended for use in a business to business (B2B) transaction for the supply of services by the supplier to the customer under a single order. This supply of services agreement includes standard provisions such as performance obligations, warranties and the procedure for dealing with defective services. It is not suitable for use in the context of the supply of services to consumers and it does not make provision for the supply of goods. This Precedent has a pro-customer bias. Structure of this Precedent This agreement for the supply of services comprises: (a) Main body—which sets out the general contractual relationship between the supplier and the customer (b) Schedule 1—Services, which details the services and their specification to be provided to the customer by the supplier (c) Schedule 2—Prices, detailing the prices corresponding to the Services (d) Schedule 3—Data protection, for use where any of the services comprise data processing activities (e) Schedule 4—Policies, being the business policies of the customer which the supplier and its personnel are required to comply with during performance of the Services Assumptions In this Precedent it

How to use this Checklist This Checklist outlines key issues to consider when negotiating or drafting a settlement agreement to end an IP dispute at the pre-action or post-commencement of proceedings stage. It is designed to highlight issues commonly arising during the negotiation and drafting of the following types of agreement: • Ireland—Settlement agreement—IP dispute—short form • Ireland—Settlement agreement—pre-action settlement Checklist for proposed settlement agreement The third column can be used to record observations or comments as the Checklist is worked through. When negotiating and drafting the settlement agreement, take into account key commercial considerations regarding: Checklist Further information Notes (if any) ☐ Settlement date Confirm the operative date of settlement. If possible, it is generally cleaner for there to be a single ‘settlement date’ rather than separate signature, commencement and effective dates. ☐ Parties Confirm each party’s status in respect of the dispute or proceedings as a contracting party and whether any third parties

This Precedent is a short form settlement agreement for use in relation to intellectual property (IP) disputes. A settlement agreement can be used to formalise the settlement terms of a dispute at any point in a dispute. If it is used to settle a dispute after proceedings have been issued, the settlement agreement is scheduled to a consent order. This Precedent has been drafted for use in the settlement of IP claims in particular but could be adapted to be used for settlement of other types of claims. Each IP claim is different but there is usually a need to tidy up rights and interests following the settlement of an IP claim over and above the payment of a settlement sum. IP disputes often feature one or more of the following characteristics, which may distinguish them from disputes in other fields: —technical subject matter—it is often necessary to get to grips with difficult scientific or technical issues in order to determine the outcome of IP disputes (eg the functionality of a product in

This Practice Note considers what settlement is, when and why you should attempt to settle disputes, who should be involved in attempts to settle a dispute and the consequences for not attempting to reach settlement. It broadly outlines some methods of settling disputes such as, lodgment of money in court and tenders, Calderbank offers, settling at a mediation and settling in arbitration. It also considers how to draft a settlement agreement and when settlement agreements can be set aside. Settling disputes Many disputes are settled outside of court. In recent years, there has been a growing interest and increase in the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to resolve disputes, conflicts or claims. Once a claim has been made, a settlement agreement can be reached between the parties at any time prior to the trial date or on the day of the trial itself. It is important to note that a court may suggest that a matter should be resolved by way of a certain type of ADR process. If such a recommendation

This Practice Note considers the factors involved in settling a claim at a mediation as distinct from other times that settlement may be achieved. It considers what is mediation, who should attend a mediation and what occurs before, during and after a mediation. It also looks at the legal framework for mediation in Ireland and the key provisions of the Mediation Act 2017 (Ireland) (MA 2017 (IRL)). What is mediation? Mediation involves a neutral third party whose aim is to facilitate the resolution of a dispute between parties. Mediation is generally a flexible process and can take place online, in-person or by telephone. The role of the mediator and lawyers at a mediation is quite distinct and will be discussed below. This Practice Note discusses the factors which are involved in settling a legal claim during and following a mediation. For guidance on settlement and settling disputes more generally see, Practice Note: Ireland—Settlement and settling disputes. For an overview and introduction to forms of alternative dispute resolution commonly used to settle

This Precedent is a severance clause. A severance or severability clause is categorised as one of the boilerplate clauses of an agreement. Its purpose is to ensure that, if any of the provisions in an agreement are found to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, the rest of the agreement survives and continues to be valid. It does this by providing that, in those circumstances, the problematic wording is deleted and the remaining provisions of the agreement continue unaffected. The wording rendering a provision (or part of a provision) illegal, invalid or unenforceable is effectively severed from the rest of the agreement. It is important to note that the doctrine of severance can be applied by the court even if an agreement does not contain a severance clause. However, it is still useful to include an express severance clause in an agreement because: • the court may expect to see, and may look favourably upon, an express severance clause in the agreement, • the parties may agree a variation in non-contentious circumstances, subject to any applicable