What is Force Majeure?
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What is a Force Majeure Clause in an Event Contract?
Force Majeure is a legal term included in agreements and contracts like the contract a company must sign to exhibit at a trade show or other type of event. The literal translation from the French language is greater force.
The use of force majeure as part of a contract’s legal language refers to a greater force - an event which occurs preventing one or both parties from fulfilling their duties. In this example, the show organizer may be prevented from holding the event or, in the case of the exhibitor, they may be prevented from exhibiting. The exhibitor agreement’s force majeure clause removes any legal responsibility from the show organizer or the exhibitor.
What is an Example of Force Majeure?
Common examples of force majeure events include hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, earthquakes, floods, fires, war, strikes, explosions, and other unforeseen incidents or extreme weather conditions or natural disasters. If a force majeure event occurs, it could be impossible or impractical for the trade show or conference to take place. If this is the case, neither party - neither the show organizer nor exhibitor - can be held liable for not adhering to their side of the contract.
What is the Difference Between Force Majeure and Act of God?
A force majeure event is often referred to as an Act of God, but that is not entirely correct. An act of God is typically a natural event like a hurricane, tornado, or blizzard. As mentioned above, a force majeure event can include these things, but it can also include other unforeseeable events like a citywide electrical outage or burst water pipes flooding a convention center.
Force Majeure and COVID-19
Until recently, the force majeure clause of trade show contracts was mostly ignored by exhibitors. The COVID-19 pandemic, travel disruptions, and the closure of all live, in person events changed all that. Whether you work for a trade show’s management team writing the exhibitor contract or you work for a company considering exhibiting at an event and are asked to sign the contract, it is important to thoroughly evaluate the legal wording specifically related to force majeure and COVID-19 to help ensure your company is not out large amounts of money if an event does not take place.
A recent articled titled The Importance of Force Majeure Clauses in the COVID-19 Era was published on the American Bar Association website. It addresses various examples of actual legal outcomes related to the importance of force majeure wording in the midst of a global pandemic.
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