How Can Businesses Effectively Deal with Legal Issues in Supply Chain Management?

Supply chain management in any industry involves a careful balancing act between two key relationships – the vendors and customers. Logistical issues must be handled with skill and foresight in order to ensure a match between demand and supply at all times. Based on this, there are times when things don’t go as planned and you need to fall back on legal remedies and documentation.

Due diligence, merger control, and foreign investment restrictions are a few things that may feature heavily in supply chain management, making it important to speak with a qualified business law attorney.

Common Legal Issues in Supply Chain Management

Supply chains have once again come under the spotlight. Recent economic and geopolitical headwinds have placed the focus on transforming and strengthening supply chains. There is pressure from a multitude of angles that businesses need to be aware of.

These are a few common legal issues that businesses face with supply chain management:

• Increased scrutiny on maintaining fair supply chains and compliance in accordance with ESG standards.
• Protecting data while allowing digital transformation for anticipating, documenting, and mitigating supply chain issues.
• Rethinking the legal issues surrounding the shortage of raw materials and price inflation.
• Industry cooperation for creating a new approach to procurement.
• Compliance with employment and labor standards on a global level.

Legal Concerns with Data Privacy in Supply Chain Management

Data privacy is an integral component of supply chain management with the advent of digital transformation. Companies require personal data for tracking items. Sharing this data requires data privacy regulation. As a business, you need to implement strict data privacy regulations from the very beginning.

From a legal standpoint, you can avoid a lot of trouble by considering the following factors when creating a design process:

• Who will collect the data?
• Where will the data be collected, stored, and processed?
• How will the data be collected?
• Why will the data be collected?
• How will the data be protected?
• Who can access the data?

Data privacy issues can have far-reaching consequences. You need a business attorney in Alabama with solid knowledge of supply chain management and relevant laws to ensure your business comes out on the other side unscathed.

Managing Risks with Third Party Suppliers

Any manufacturer considering the engagement and acquisition of a third-party supplier is required to identify the operative and legal risks in the supply chain. This can be done by asking:

• Is the supply chain reliable?
• Does the third-party supplier have visibility of their own supply chain?
• How does the supplier deal with disruptions?
• Has the supplier invested in digitizing the supply chain?

You need to be careful about entering long-term contracts. You may become stuck in an arrangement that is not commercially viable for you. This became too common during the pandemic when a number of companies were unable to fulfill their contractual obligations.

Attorneys play a significant role in helping companies mitigate risks and completely rejuvenate the supply chains. It can take years to implement a project and correct course. This is why you should be conscientious of legal issues and take the necessary steps to remain prepared. It’s critical to undertake due diligence and hire the right legal counsel.

Reducing Legal Risks Associated with Supply Chain Management in Alabama

Most legal issues involving supply chain management are concerned with the law of the sale of goods. Uniform Commercial Code or UCC has been adopted by all 50 states. Article 2 of the UCC is a body of law that governs the terms and conditions under which goods are purchased and sold. This is unless the parties agree to other terms under the sales contract.

UCC Article 2 is general yet comprehensive in most aspects. Contracting parties should employ those terms and conditions that benefit them in a transaction. You should ensure terms involving the price, quantity, delivery, and condition of goods are clearly stated.

You should also consider including other factors, such as:

• Delivery of the goods.
• Warranty exclusions.
• Risk of loss in transit.
• Liability limitation.
• Intellectual property rights.
• Limitations on when claims can be purchased.
• Infringement-related indemnification obligations.

Other related issues that you may want to include are choice of law, forum, jurisdiction, and payment of attorney’s fees.

Due diligence, merger control, and foreign investment restrictions are a few factors that feature heavily when acquiring a key supplier. You need to remain compliant with social standards, local governance standards, and environmental standards.

Turn to Litigation When Necessary

Commercial parties are usually amenable to resolving their differences. However, there can be times when repeated concessions start taking a toll. You may hit a downward slope on the value of your goods and business. In such situations, it’s recommended that you turn to litigation and ask your capable business law attorney for legal solutions.

Litigation is usually used in supply chain management for seeking monetary compensation where there is a breach of commitment. Parties may resort to litigation for compelling one side to perform or refrain from doing an activity. These matters usually require court input because of their legal powers of compulsion.

Our Experienced Business Law Attorneys are Here to Give You the Right Legal Advice and Support. Call Now.

The attorneys at BHM Law Group take the commercial objectives of a business and translate them into empowering contractual documentation that includes robust terms and conditions applying to a wide array of distribution, transportation, and supply agreements.

To schedule your free consultation, call us at (205) 964-9764 or fill out this online contact form.