A Strategic View for the Applicability of the Duty of Care Doctrine in Consultancy Services Agreements

Fernanda de Cooker, Company Lawyer, MaxGrip B.V.

Consultancy services are becoming so relevant and necessary in all sectors that there is an urgent need to review the current models used to agree upon consultancy methods. After many unsuccessful stories, parties involved in consultancy discovered that their relationship must focus in the efficient implementation of consultant’s recommendations. As such, consultants are required to play an important role in the internal transformation of their clients by offering innovative options beyond their fashionable pdf reports. A trustful collaboration engagement built in the entire consultancy cycle is then the key to achieve this goal. But how this new consultancy scenario is endorsed by the contractual liability doctrine commonly adopted in consultancy services agreements? How legal advisors can help their clients in successfully establishing this new model of engagement?