The range of legal entities contracting internationally, as well as the range of types of agreements entered into by companies, is very broad indeed. This introductory chapter will focus generally on companies transacting internationally for one-off contracts for the sale and purchase of goods and services.

Business is about assuming and managing risks, including legal risk. This reality is mirrored in the negotiation process. Contracts can be viewed as the final result of a dynamic process seeking to take into consideration all the imponderabilities of transnational business. Of course, the negotiation process contemplates the enforceability of contractual provisions under the relevant applicable law. That said, the reality is that not all contractual provisions are created equal and there are factors that will impede a complete review, including time restraints and budgetary concerns. There are also the ‘unknown’ factors, stemming from cultural gaps or linguistic limitations in some cases, or simply from the state of the law in others, to mention only a few. Finally, there are contracts that can be considered as the ‘unseen unknowns’.

Section 1 of this chapter outlines the starting point and some of the elements of the negotiation process, seeking to explain why, in practice, there may be gaps between ‘standard contracts’ and ‘national legal requirements’. Section 2 briefly reviews the findings.