Office of Legal Affairs

Contracts

Pursuant to Policy# 3364-10-14 Contract Review and Approval Process all contracts must be reviewed by the Office of Legal Affairs (or the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, if related to sponsored research) prior to execution.

What is a contract?

A contract is a legally binding agreement between the University and another party or parties in any manner for any dollar value (including zero dollars), describing the terms of the contract. The term “contract” can be referred to by many different names, such as agreement, memorandum of understanding, memorandum of intent, statement of work, amendment, addendum, proposal, purchase order, notice of award and includes electronic/”click-through” contracts which are accepted online and not printed. 

How do I request legal review of a contract?

Departments must request review of a contract through the  REQUEST FOR CONTRACT REVIEW PORTAL .  (Exception: Sponsored research agreements must be routed for review through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.)  To check the status of a pending request, click here:  https://myforms.utoledo.edu

The REQUEST FOR CONTRACT REVIEW PORTAL will route your contract to the correct first reviewer (usually a team member in the Office of Legal Affairs). In certain situations, the portal will route the contract for preliminary review before it is routed to the Office of Legal Affairs. Specifically:

• Requests to review contracts for the purchase of Goods or Services will be automatically routed (by the portal system) to Purchasing Services for initial review. Purchasing Services will then request legal review as appropriate. Note: Contracts for the purchases of goods and services must follow 3364-40-15 Procurement Policy.
• Requests to initiate Employment and Independent Contractor agreements must first be approved through  Human Resources before being submitted to the portal. A contract with an independent contractor must follow the Procedure for Contracting with Independent Contractors.

Who has the authority to sign a contract?

All employees must follow policy 3364-40-08 Delegation of Signature Authority for Documents that Bind the University.  As stated in the policy, signing a binding agreement without the appropriate authority could result in personal liability and/or disciplinary action up to termination.