assignment clause with notice

Assignment clause samples

Assignment . Assignor assigns to Assignee all of Assignor’s right, title, and interest in and to the Purchase Agreement, as amended.

03/25/2020 (Lodging Fund REIT III, Inc.)

to the contrary (a) Manager shall not be obligated to return or refund to Lender any Management Fee or other fee, commission or other amount already received by Manager prior to the occurrence of the Event of Default, and to which Manager was entitled under this Assignment and (b) in the event Operating Lessee loses possession of the Property in connection with exercise by Lender of its rights or remedies pursuant to this Assignment , the Note, the Security Instrument, the Loan Agreement or the other Loan Documents, Manager shall be entitled to collect any Management Fee or other fee, commission or other amount accrued but unpaid prior to the occurrence of the Event of Default, and to which Manager was entitled under this Assignment .Nothing in this Assignment shall prohibit Manager from terminating the Management Agreement pursuant to the terms thereof for failure to receive the management fee due thereunder.

Duplicate Originals, Counterparts.This Assignment may be executed in any number of duplicate originals and each duplicate original shall be deemed to be an original.This Assignment may be executed in several counterparts, each of which counterparts shall be deemed an original instrument and all of which together shall constitute a single Assignment .The failure of any party hereto to execute this Assignment , or any counterpart hereof, shall not relieve the other signatories from their obligations hereunder.

Section 6.6 Parties Bound; Assignment . This Guarantyshall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors, permitted assigns, heirs and legal representatives. Lender shall have the right to assign or transfer its rights under this Guaranty in connection with any assignment of the Loan and the Loan Documents. Any assignee or transferee of Lender shall be entitled to all the benefits afforded to Lender under this Guaranty. No Guarantor shall have the right to assign or transfer its rights or obligations under this Guaranty without the prior written consent of Lender, and any attempted assignment without such consent shall be null and void.

(a)the failure of Lender to comply with any request of Borrower or any other party to take any action to enforce any of the provisions hereof or of the Loan Agreement, the Note or the other Loan Documents, (b) the release, regardless of consideration, of the whole or any part of the Property, or (c) any agreement or stipulation by Lender extending the time of payment or otherwise modifying or supplementing the terms of this Assignment , the Loan Agreement, the Note or the other Loan Documents. Lender may resort for the payment and performance of the Obligations to any other security held by Lender in such order and manner as Lender, in its sole discretion, may elect. Lender may take any action to recover the Obligations, or any portion thereof, or to enforce any covenant hereof without prejudice to the right of Lender thereafter to enforce its rights under this Assignment . The rights of Lender under this Assignment shall be separate, distinct and cumulative and none shall be given effect to the exclusion of the others. No act of Lender shall be construed as an election to proceed under any one provision herein to the exclusion of any other provision.

Section 5.6 Terminationof Assignment . Upon paymentand performanceinfull of the Obligations, this Assignment shall become and be void and of no effect.

7.02 Assignment by Operator. Operator, in its sole discretion, shall have the right to assign this Agreement to any Affiliate of Operator or to any successor or assignee of Operator resulting from any merger, consolidation or reorganization, or to another corporation which shall acquire all or substantially all of the business and assets of Operator. Operator will give prompt notice to Owner of any such assignment . Operator may, with the consent of Owner not to be unreasonable delayed or withheld, assign this Agreement to any non- Affiliate. Except in the case of an assignment to an Affiliate of Operator, Operator shall be released of all of its covenants and liabilities hereunder, other than liabilities that have accrued prior to the date of the delivery of notice to Owner.

The names of all Grantors (sometimes "Grantor") can be found on page 1 of this Assignment . The names of all Grantees (sometimes "Lender") can be found on page 1 of this Assignment . The property address can be found on page 1 of this Assignment . The legal description can be found on page 1 of this Assignment .The parcel identification number can be found on page 1 of this Assignment .

BORROWER'S WAIVERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES. Lender need not tell Borrower about any action or inaction Lender takes in connection with this Assignment . Borrower assumes the responsibility for being and keeping informed about the Property.Borrower waives any defenses that may arise because of any action or inaction of Lender, including without limitation any failure of Lender to realize upon the Property, or any delay by Lender in realizing upon the Property. Borrower agrees to remain liable under the Note with Lender no matter what action Lender takes or fails to take under this Assignment .

PAYMENT AND PERFORMANCE. Except as otherwise provided in this Assignment or any Related Documents, Grantor shall pay to Lender all amounts secured by this Assignment as they become due, and shall strictly perform all of Grantor's obligations under this Assignment . Unless and until Lender exercises its right to collect the Rents as provided below and so long as there is no default under this Assignment , Grantor may remain in possession and control of and operate and manage the Property and collect the Rents, provided that the granting of the right to collect the Rents shall not constitute Lender's consent to the use of cash collateral in a bankruptcy proceeding.

No Prior Assignment . Grantor has not previously assigned or conveyed the Rents to any other person by any instrument now in force.

Amendments. This Assignment , together with any RelatedDocuments, constitutes the entire understanding and agreement of the parties as to the matters set forth in this Assignment . No alteration of or amendment to this Assignment shall be effective unless given in writing and signed by the party or parties sought to be charged or bound by the alteration or amendment.

Joint and Several Liability. All obligations of Borrower and Grantor under this Assignment shall be joint and several, and all references to Grantor shall mean each and every Grantor, andall references to Borrower shall mean each and every Borrower. This means that each Grantor signing below is responsible for all obligations in this Assignment .Where any one or more of the parties is a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or similar entity, it is not necessary for Lender to inquire into the powers of any of the officers, directors, partners, members, or other agents acting or purporting to act on the entity's behalf, and any obligations made or created in reliance upon the professed exercise of such powers shall be guaranteed under this Assignment .

No Waiver by Lender. Lender shall not be deemed to have waived any rights under this Assignment unless such waiver is given in writing and signed by Lender. No delay or omission on the part of Lender in exercising any right shall operate as a waiver of such right or any other right. A waiver by Lender of a provision of this Assignment shall not prejudice or constitute a waiver of Lender's right otherwise to demand strict compliance with that provision or any other provision of this Assignment . No prior waiver by Lender, nor any course of dealing between Lender and Grantor, shall constitute a waiver of any of Lender's rights or of any of Grantor's obligations as to any future transactions. Whenever the consent of Lender is required under this Assignment , the granting of such consent by Lender in any instance shall not constitute continuing consent to subsequent instances where such consent is required and in all cases such consent may be granted or withheld in the sole discretion of Lender.

Notices. Any notice required to be given under this Assignment shall be given in writing, and shall be effective when actually delivered, when actually received by telefacsimile (unless otherwise required by law), when deposited with a nationally recognized overnight courier, or, if mailed, when deposited in the United States mail, as first class, certified or registered mail postage prepaid, directed to the addresses shown near the beginning of this Assignment . Any party may change its address for notices under this Assignment by giving formal written notice to the other parties, specifying that the purpose of the notice is to change the party's address. For notice purposes, Grantor agrees to keep Lender informed at all times of Grantor's current address. Unless otherwise provided or required by law, if there is more than one Grantor, any notice given by Lender to any Grantor is deemed to be notice given to all Grantors.

Severability. If a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of this Assignment to be illegal, invalid, or unenforceable as to any circumstance, that finding shall not make the offending provision illegal, invalid, or unenforceable as to any other circumstance. If feasible, the offending provision shall be considered modified so that it becomes legal, valid and enforceable. If the offending provision cannot be so modified, it shall be considered deleted from this Assignment . Unless otherwise required by law, the illegality, invalidity, or unenforceability of any provision of this Assignment shall not affect the legality, validity or enforceability of any other provision of this Assignment .

Assignment . The word " Assignment " means this ASSIGNMENT OF RENTS, as this ASSIGNMENT OF RENTS may be amended or modified from time to time, together with all exhibits and schedules attached to this ASSIGNMENT OF RENTS from time to time.

Indebtedness. The word "Indebtedness" means all principal, interest and late fees, and other amounts, costs and expenses payable under the Note or Related Documents, together with all renewals of, extensions of, modifications of, consolidations of and substitutions for the Note or Related Documents and any amounts expended or advanced by Lender to discharge Grantor's obligations or expenses incurred by Lender to enforce Grantor's obligations under this Assignment , together with interest on such amounts as provided in this Assignment . Specifically,without limitation, Indebtedness includes the future advances set forth in the Future Advances provision of this Assignment , together with all interest thereon.

SECTION 14.7. Assignment . This Agreement may not be assigned by Buyer without the prior written consent of Seller, other than to Affiliates of Buyer. Buyer may designate an Affiliate to which the Agreement will be assigned at the Closing, provided that Buyer provides Seller with a draft assignment for this Agreement at least five (5) days prior to Closing and provided that Buyer will continue to remain liable under this Agreement notwithstanding any such designation. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, including, without limitation, Section 9.1(a), in the event Buyer assigns its rights under this Agreement, Buyer shall be solely responsible for any additional transfer taxes assessed as a result thereof, and shall pay such additional taxes at settlement and recording of the Deed. Seller shall have no liability for any realty transfer taxes, interest and penalties assessed based on any consideration greater than the Purchase Price set forth herein, and Buyer shall indemnify, defend and hold Seller harmless from any costs, liability or expense incurred by Seller in connection with an assignment of this Agreement by Buyer, including, without limitation, any transfer taxes and legal fees incurred by Seller in connection therewith.

Rights of Lender.Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, Lender may, at any time without notice (except if required by any Applicable Law), either in person, by agent or by a court-appointed receiver (with such receiver to have all powers and duties set forth for receivers in this Deed of Trust and as prescribed by Applicable Law), regardless of the adequacy of Lender’s security, and at Lender’s sole election (without any obligation to do so), to the extent permitted by Applicable Law, enter upon and take possession and control of the Trust Estate to perform all acts necessary and appropriate to operate and maintain the Trust Estate, including to execute, cancel or modify the Leases, make repairs to the Trust Estate, execute or terminate contracts providing for the management or maintenance of the Trust Estate, all on such terms as are deemed best to protect the security of this assignment .Lender or the receiver, to the extent permitted by Applicable Law, shall have access to the books and records used in the operation and maintenance of the Trust Estate and shall be liable to account only for those Rents actually received.Lender shall not be liable to Trustor, anyone claiming under or through Trustor or anyone having an interest in the Trust Estate by reason of anything done or left undone by Lender hereunder, except to the extent of Lender’s gross negligence or willful misconduct.Any entering upon and taking possession and control of the Trust Estate by Lender or the receiver and any application of Rents as provided herein shall not cure or waive any Default or invalidate any other right or remedy of Lender.

Section 15.1. Assignment by Owner.Owner shall not assign or transfer or permit the assignment or transfer of this Agreement or any of Owner's rights and obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of Manager, on the conditions that (i)Owner may assign this Agreement without Manager's consent to any Affiliate of Owner or to any successor or assign that may result from the merger, consolidation or reorganization of Owner or its Affiliate provided that any such assignee shall assume and agree in writing to be bound by all of the terms and subject to all of the conditions set forth in this Agreement, and (ii)Owner shall not be released from its obligations hereunder without Manager's prior written consent which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.Owner shall deliver to Manager a copy of any instrument of assignment .No assignment by Owner shall be binding on Manager until written notice thereof is furnished Manager, together with a copy of the applicable assignment and assumption document and evidence of such assignee's compliance with the insurance obligation of Owner imposed by this Agreement.

16. Assignment . This Agreement may be assigned by the Advisor to an Affiliate with the approval of the Board. The Advisor may assign any rights to receive fees or other payments under this Agreement without obtaining the approval of the Board. This Agreement shall not be assigned by the Company without the consent of the Advisor, except in the case of an assignment by the Company to a corporation or other organization which is a successor to all of the assets, rights and obligations of the Company, in which case such successor organization shall be bound hereunder and by the terms of said assignment in the same manner as the Company are bound by this Agreement.

08/08/2019 (Lodging Fund REIT III, Inc.)

The names of all Grantors (sometimes “Grantor”) can be found on page1 of this Assignment . The names of all Grantees (sometimes “Lender”) can be found on page1 of this Assignment . The property address can be found on page1 of this Assignment . The legal description can be found on page1 of this Assignment . The parcel identification number can be found on page1 of this Assignment .

5. Assignment . Original Borrower hereby grants, transfers, sets over and assigns to the Assumptor, all of Original Borrower’s right, title and interest in and to the Assumed Loan Documents, and Noteholder hereby consents to such assignment ; provided that such consent shall not be deemed to release Original Borrower from any of its obligations except as expressly provided in this Assumption Agreement.

1. Assignment . Subject to the partial assignment and assumption of section 9.3(b)and 18.10 Asset Purchase Agreement pursuant to the Assignment and Assumption of Ninth Amendment to Asset Purchase Agreement (“9thAmendment”), Assignor assigns to Assignee all of Assignor’s remaining right, title, and interest in and to the Asset Purchase Agreement, as amended. For the avoidance of doubt, as of the Effective Date of this Assignment , section 9.3(b)and 18.10 of the Asset Purchase Agreement shall be the obligation of LODGING FUND REIT III OP, LP, a Delaware limited partnership as assigned by Assignor and assumed by LODGING FUND REIT III OP, LP pursuant to the 9thAmendment.

p. Assignment . Purchaser may assign its interest under this Agreement at any time upon notice to Seller; provided, however, that no such assignment shall release Purchaser from any of its duties or obligations hereunder except as otherwise approved in writing by Seller.

1. Assignment . Assignor assigns to Assignee all of Assignor’s right, title, and interest in and to the Hotel Purchase and Sale Agreement, as amended.

Apollonia’s principal asset at this time is the right to receive payments under the Assignment . There is the possibility that a buyer exists that would pay to acquire the right to receive those payments. Given the uncertainty that currently exists, it would be difficult to establish an appropriate price for such rights independently from a sale of St. Renatus.

02/12/2019 (ST RENATUS LLC)

As more fully explained in Note 5, St. Renatus, LLC was assigned the patent for a needle-free system that delivers dental anesthesia as a nasal spray by Apollonia, LLC, an unrelated company at the time of assignment . Subsequently, Apollonia, LLC became a company with common members but separate control, and it is now considered a related party ("Related Company") under generally accepted accounting principles, the determination of which is not related to determining common ownership as defined by the IRS.

(g) Assignment . Neither party may assign this Third Assignment Agreement, or any right or obligation hereunder, without the prior written consent of the other; provided, however, that either party may assign this Third Assignment Agreement to any of its Affiliates, or, subject to Section 3(c) regarding the assumption of payment obligations hereunder, to a purchaser of all or substantially all of its assets to which this Third Assignment Agreement relates (including an acquisition by merger or the purchase of equity interests in a party), in each case with prior written notice to the other party. This Third Assignment Agreement shall be binding on and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective permitted successors and assigns.

Assignment . Clay hereby transfers, grants, conveys, assigns, and relinquishes exclusively to Gill all of Clay's right, title, and interest in and to the Patents, the inventions claimed therein, and all accrued causes of action for damages for infringement thereof (the “ Assignment ”).

The Assignor waives any right it may have of first requiring the Security Agent to proceed against or enforce any other rights or security or claim payment from any person before claiming from the Assignor under this Assignment . This waiver applies irrespective of any law or any provision of this Assignment to the contrary.

09/27/2019 (Brooge Holdings Ltd)

1. Assignment . Subject to Bluerock (as defined in the Operating Agreement of Assignee) funding its share of the earnest money and loan assumption costs as provided in Section 5.8 of the Operating Agreement of Assignee, Assignor hereby assigns, transfers and conveys to Assignee all of its right, title and interest in, to and under (i) the Agreement; (ii) the earnest money previously deposited by Assignor; and (iii) to the extent assignable and without any representation or warranty whatsoever, including, but not limited to any representation or warranty as to the accuracy, contents or completeness thereof, all property condition and inspection reports relating to the Property and received by Assignor in connection with the investigation and acquisition of the Property pursuant to the Agreement and either prepared by third parties or provided by the Seller and all representations and warranties made to Assignor in connection therewith (collectively, together with the Agreement and the earnest money, the “Transferred Assets”). For purposes of clarification, the parties agree that Transferred Assets shall not include any proprietary or confidential information, internal analyses, attorney work product or attorney-client privileged documents.

08/09/2017 (Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc.)

Borrower hereby transfers, assigns and sets over to Lender, its successors and assigns, all right, title and interest of Borrower in and to the Management Agreement. Manager hereby consents to the foregoing assignment . The foregoing assignment is being made by Borrower to Lender as collateral security for the full payment and performance by Borrower of all of its obligations under the Loan Documents. Although it is the intention of the parties that the assignment hereunder is a present assignment , until the occurrence of any default or failure to perform or observe any obligation, condition, covenant, term, agreement or provision required to be performed or observed by Borrower or any other party under any of the Loan Documents beyond any applicable grace or cure period provided for therein (an “Event of Default”), Borrower may exercise all rights as owner of the Mortgaged Property under the Management Agreement, except as otherwise provided in this Assignment . The foregoing assignment shall remain in effect as long as the Mortgage Loan, or any part thereof, remains unpaid, but shall automatically terminate upon the release of the Security Instrument as a lien on the Mortgaged Property.

Borrower, Manager and Lender shall not refuse or reject delivery of any notice given in accordance with this Assignment . Each party is required to acknowledge, in writing, the receipt of any notice upon request by the other party.

Any controversy arising under or in relation to this Assignment shall be litigated exclusively in the Property Jurisdiction without regard to conflicts of laws principles. The state and federal courts and authorities with jurisdiction in the Property Jurisdiction shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all controversies which shall arise under or in relation to this Assignment . Borrower irrevocably consents to service, jurisdiction and venue of such courts for any such litigation and waives any other venue to which it might be entitled by virtue of domicile, habitual residence or otherwise.

The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this Assignment shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision of this Assignment , all of which shall remain in full force and effect. This Assignment contains the complete and entire agreement among the parties as to the matters covered, rights granted and the obligations assumed in this Assignment . This Assignment may not be amended or modified except by written agreement signed by the parties hereto.

(b)Any reference in this Assignment to an “Exhibit” or “Schedule” or a “Section” or an “Article” shall, unless otherwise explicitly provided, be construed as referring, respectively, to an exhibit or schedule attached to this Assignment or to a Section or Article of this Assignment . All exhibits and schedules attached to or referred to in this Assignment , if any, are incorporated by reference into this Assignment .

18. Assignment . Assignee shall not have the right to assign this Assignment Agreement or any interest therein without Assignor’s prior written consent, which consent may be given or withheld in Assignor’s sole and absolute discretion; provided, however, that Assignee shall be permitted, without obtaining Assignor’s consent, to assign this Assignment Agreement to an entity which controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with Assignee or any other entity affiliated with Assignee. For purposes of this Agreement, an affiliate of Assignee shall include (a)any entity that is owned, controlled by or is under common control with Assignee (an “Assignee Control Entity”), (b)any entity in which one or more Assignee Controlled Entities directly or indirectly is the general partner (or similar managing partner, member or manager) or owns more than 50% of the economic interests of such entity, or (c)any entity (or subsidiary thereof) that is advised by an affiliate of BCIIV Advisors LLC. Assignee shall in no event be released from any of its obligations or liabilities hereunder as a result of any such assignment .

04/18/2018 (BLACK CREEK INDUSTRIAL REIT IV Inc.)

(b) Bill of Sale and General Assignment . Seller shall deliver two duly executed originals of a bill of sale and general assignment (and other instruments of conveyance, including, by way of example only, articles of transfer, as may be required to convey personal property), in the form attached hereto as ExhibitB (the “Bill of Sale”), conveying good and marketable title to such Personal Property, Permits, Plans and Records and Intangible Property to Buyer, free and clear of all Liens caused by Seller or based on the acts or agreements of Seller but subject to the Permitted Exceptions or those expressly permitted by this Agreement.

(b) Bill of Sale and General Assignment . Buyer shall deliver two duly executed counterparts of the Bill of Sale.

15.16 Assignment . Buyer may assign all or any portion of this Agreement or its rights hereunder, or delegate all or any portion of its duties or obligations to an affiliate without Seller’s written consent, provided that Buyer gives Seller notice of the assignment or delegation and that such assignment or delegation does not relieve Buyer of its obligations hereunder. Seller shall not assign this Agreement or any rights hereunder, or delegate any of its obligations, without the prior written approval of Buyer. Subject to the provisions of this section, this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective heirs, personal representatives, successors and permitted assigns. Except as specifically set forth or referred to herein, nothing herein expressed or implied is intended or shall be construed to confer upon or give to any person or entity, other than the parties hereto and their successors or permitted assigns, any rights or remedies under or by reason of this Agreement. For purposes of this Section15.16, an affiliate of Buyer shall include (a)any entity that is owned, controlled by or is under common control with Buyer (a “Buyer Control Entity”), and (b)any entity in which one or more Buyer Controlled Entities directly or indirectly is the general partner (or similar managing partner, member or manager) or owns more than 50% of the economic interests of such entity, or (c)any entity (or subsidiary thereof) that is advised by an affiliate of Black Creek Industrial Acquisitions, LLC.

6.04 No Assignment . Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, this Deed of Trust shall not constitute an assignment of the Ground Lease within the meaning of any provision thereof prohibiting its assignment and Beneficiary shall have no liability or obligation thereunder by reason of its acceptance of this Deed of Trust. Beneficiary shall be liable for the obligations of the lessee arising out of the Ground Lease for only that period of time for which Beneficiary is in possession of the Leased Premises or has acquired, by foreclosure or otherwise, and is holding all of Trustor’s right, title and interest therein.

07/30/2019 (Desert Hawk Gold Corp.)

13.15 Assignment . Desert Hawk may not assign, sublease or otherwise transfer its interest in this Agreement without Clifton’s prior written consent (as to that portion of the Leased Premises owned by Clifton) and Woodman’s prior written consent (as to that portion of the Leased Premises owned by Woodman) in each instance, which consents shall not be unreasonably withheld. This paragraph shall not prevent Desert Hawk from, without Lessors’ consent, mortgaging or otherwise pledging this Agreement for financing purposes in accordance with Section 4.3(g) to the Leasehold Mortgagee. The Leasehold Mortgagee (and anyone whose title derives directly or indirectly from the Leasehold Mortgagee, including a purchaser at any foreclosure sale held under a leasehold mortgage) may, without Lessors’ consent, hold a foreclosure sale, take title to Desert Hawk’s interest under this Agreement, and transfer or assign Desert Hawk’s interest under this Agreement to an entity that has the financial capacity to perform Desert Hawk’s obligations under this Agreement, either in its own name or through a nominee; provided, however, that any transfer or assignment of this Agreement by any party that is not the Leasehold Mortgagee or an affiliate of the Leasehold Mortgagee shall be subject to the first sentence of this Section 13.15. No assignment , sublease or transfer shall be effective against Lessors until Lessors receive written notice of the transfer in accordance with Section 13.1.

2.1Representations and Warranties of Tate: 2.1.1Authorization. This Assignment and all other agreements contemplated by this Assignment , when executed and delivered by the parties thereto, shall constitute legal, valid, and binding obligations of Tate, enforceable against Tate in accordance with their terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws affecting the rights of creditors generally or judicial limits on equitable remedies. 2.1.2No Adverse Consequences. The execution, delivery and performance of this Assignment by Tate will not: i) result in the creation of imposition of any lien, security interest, charge or encumbrance on the Assets; ii) violate any law, judgment, order, injunction, decree, rule, regulation or ruling of any governmental authority applicable to Tate; or iii) conflict with, constitute grounds for termination or acceleration of, result in the breach of the terms, conditions, or provisions of, result in the loss of any benefit to Tate under, or constitute a default under (whether by virtue of the application of a “change of control” provision or otherwise) any agreement, instrument, license or permit to which either Tate is a party or by which Tate is bound. 2.1.3Clear Title. Tate represents and warrants that Tate has good and marketable title to all of the Assets, in each case free and clear of all options, warrants, mortgages, liens, security interests, pledges, charges or encumbrances of any nature whatsoever other than as disclosed in this Assignment . 2.1.4Litigation. There are no actions, suits, proceedings, orders, investigations, or claims pending or, to Tate’s knowledge, threatened against the Assets, at law or in equity. 2.1.5Accuracy of Representations and Warranties. None of the representations and warranties of Tate contain any untrue statement of material fact or omit any material fact concerning the statements contained in this Agreement not misleading.

02/16/2017 (American Gas & Technology LP)

4.1Waiver. The failure of either party to comply with any obligation, covenant, agreement or condition in this Assignment may be waived in writing by the party entitled to the performance of such obligation, covenant or agreement or by the party who has the benefit of such condition, but such waiver or failure to insist on strict compliance with such obligation, covenant, agreement or condition shall not operate as a waiver of, or estoppel with respect to, any subsequent or other failure. 4.2Amendment. This Assignment may not be amended unless consented to in writing by the parties hereto. 4.3 Assignment . This Assignment may not be assigned by either party without the prior written consent of the other party hereto. 4.4Notice. Any notice or communication required or permitted to be given under this Assignment shall be given in writing and shall be considered to have been given if delivered by hand, transmitted by facsimile transmission or mailed by prepaid registered post in the United States, to the last known address of the other party. Either party may designate in writing at any time the latest address to which notice may be given to that party. 4.5Currency. Any references to currency in this Assignment or any attachment thereof are to be un U.S. Dollars unless otherwise stated. 4.6Time of the Essence. Time shall be of the essence of this Assignment . 4.7Invalidity. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this Assignment shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision and any such invalid or unenforceable provision shall be deemed to be severable. 4.8Entire Agreement. The provisions of this Assignment constitute the entire agreement between the parties and supersede all previous communications, representations and agreements, whether oral or written, between the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Assignment . 4.9Inurement. This Assignment shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties and, except as otherwise provided or as would be inconsistent with the provisions of this Assignment , their respective heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns.

4.10Independent Legal Advice. Each of the parties to this Assignment confirms and acknowledges that it has been provided with an opportunity to seek independent legal advice with respect to its rights, entitlements, liabilities and obligations hereunder and understands that it has been recommended that such advice be sought prior to entering into this Assignment . 4.11Counterparts. This Assignment may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. In the event that this Assignment is signed by one party and faxed or emailed to another, the parties agree that a faxed or emailed signature shall be binding upon the parties as though the signature was an original. IN WITNESS WHEREOF this Assignment has been executed by the parties, and is effective as of the Effective Date.

a.His assignor has stated such intention in the instrument of assignment ; b.The assignee has executed an instrument reasonably satisfactory to the General Partner accepting and adopting the terms and provisions of this Agreement; and c.The assignor or assignee has paid any reasonable expense in connection with the admission of the assignee as a Partner. d.The General Partner affirms in writing the substitution. 11.4. a.Transferor - Transferee Allocations. As between a Partner and his transferee, profits and losses for any month shall be apportioned to the person who is the holder of the Limited Partnership Interest transferred on the last day of such month, without regard to the results of the Partnership's operations during the period before and after such transfer. b.Distributions and Allocations Subsequent to Transfer. A transferee of, or substitute Partner for, a Partner's Limited Partnership Interest shall be entitled to receive distributions from the Partnership with respect to such Limited Partnership Interest only after the effective date of such assignment . 11.5. Limited Partnership Interest Transferred to the General Partners. If any General Partner should acquire an Interest as a Limited Partner, including but not limited to an acquisition by purchase pursuant to Section 7.13 hereof, such General Partner shall, with respect to such Interest, enjoy all of the rights and be subject to all of the obligations and duties of a Limited Partner to the extent of such Interest.

This global assignment is subject to the business requirements of LS&Co. and your performance during the period of the assignment . Throughout the entire period of this assignment , you agree that you will not engage, directly or indirectly, either on your own or through the agency of another person, firm or corporation, in any other employment, profession, occupation, service or business whatsoever. Violation of this provision may result in the termination of your employment.

12/06/2018 (LEVI STRAUSS & CO)

• Tax Preparation Services provided through a designated vendor during your assignment and the year following the end of your assignment . Currently, Ernst& Young provides tax services to LS&Co.’s global assignees.

• Tax Equalization is provided to ensure that you realize neither a significant tax detriment nor a benefit as a result of the assignment . LS&Co. has contracted with Ernst& Young to prepare your home and host country tax returns, to administer the tax equalization program, and to provide tax orientation to you before your departure on assignment .

• Income you receive during your global assignment is taxable under the laws of your host county and the US. In order to avoid a double taxation burden, LS&Co. pays the taxes assessed on host country income. In addition, LS&Co. pays the tax assessed on certain allowances you receive while in your host country which represents payments you would not receive but for your global assignment . You remain fully responsible for the tax liability for all taxable income earned in a given year that represents your base salary, any incentive payments, tax on personal investments, and any other income not specifically related to your global assignment . This tax liability is referred to as Stay at Home Tax.

The Company, through Ernst& Young (“EY”), provides and directly pays for tax consultation and tax preparation services while you are on assignment . The consultation includes a required pre- assignment tax consultation to review the tax implications of your international assignment and the Company’s Tax Equalization Policy. The tax consultation can take place in your current country or in your host country as soon as practical upon arrival.

11.3Sharing of Profits on Subletting and Assignment . If Lessee sublets any portion of the Premises or assigns this lease (except as permitted in either case by paragraph 11.2), Lessor and Lessee shall share the net profits, if any, calculated as follows. “Net profits” on subleases shall be deter-mined annually on an aggregate basis for all subleases of the Premises (except those permitted by paragraph 11.2) in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Net profits on an assignment (except as permitted by paragraph 11.2) shall be determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Lessee shall pay Lessor 25% of the net profits so determined (i)on subletting, either monthly or annually at the option of Lessee, and (ii)on an assignment , as received by Lessee. If Lessee pays such share monthly, the amount thereof shall be subject to annual adjustment. Nothing herein contained shall abrogate the requirement of Lessor’s consent to an assignment of this lease or any interest therein or subletting of the whole or any part of the Premises as set forth in paragraph 11.1.

10.3 Governance Meetings. Supplier shall implement a governance structure and governance procedures as specified in Exhibit 5. Supplier shall attend governance meetings as specified in Exhibit 5. LS&Co. may replace or reassign its governance committee members upon notice to Supplier. Supplier shall not replace or reassign its governance committee members unless LS&Co. consents to such replacement or re assignment . Before assigning an individual to a governance committee, Supplier shall notify LS&Co. of the proposed assignment , introduce the individual to appropriate LS&Co. personnel, provide LS&Co. with any information regarding the individual that may be reasonably requested by LS&Co., and obtain LS&Co.’s approval for such assignment .

pursuant to a Change in Control of LS&Co., a reorganization of LS&Co., or a transfer or sale of any business unit, line of business, product line, or substantial portion of its assets, without such consent. Upon LS&Co.’s assignment of this Agreement, LS&Co. shall be released from any obligation or liability under this Agreement. The consent of a Party to any assignment of this Agreement shall not constitute such Party’s consent to further assignment . This Agreement shall be binding on the Parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns. Any assignment in contravention of this Section29.1 shall be void.

• LS&Co. reserves the right to interview/screen tech leads in each discipline prior to assignment . It is expected that tech leads will then sign off on remaining/additional resources to ensure they meet expected standards.

Following the completion of the Split-Off, Splitco will be entitled to vote the Expedia Common Shares subject to the Diller Proxy (representing 52.4% of the outstanding voting power of the Expedia Common Shares) as a result of the assignment of the Diller Proxy to Splitco until the Proxy Arrangement Termination Date pursuant to the Diller Assignment . Following the assignment of the Diller Proxy to Splitco, based on publicly available information, other than the Expedia Common Shares that are subject to the terms of the Diller Proxy and the Diller Assignment of which Diller and Splitco will continue to share beneficial ownership, Diller is expected to beneficially own approximately 5,777,586 shares of EXPE (based upon Expedia's Annual Report on Form10-K/A (Amendment No.1) for the fiscal year ended December31, 2015, filed with the SEC on April29, 2016), representing approximately 2.2% of the outstanding voting power of the Expedia Common Shares. Following the completion of the Split-Off, the voting of the Expedia Common Shares beneficially owned by Diller which Diller will be entitled to vote will be subject to certain terms contained in the Stockholders Agreement Amendment and the voting of the Expedia Common Shares beneficially owned by Splitco which Splitco will be entitled to vote, and as to which Splitco and Diller will continue to share beneficial ownership, will be subject to certain terms contained in Splitco's restated charter, its bylaws, the Stockholders Agreement Amendment, the Diller Assignment and the Transaction Agreement. The below table sets forth a summary of the voting arrangements following the completion of the Split-Off until the Proxy Arrangement Termination Date with respect to the Expedia Common Shares of which Diller and Splitco will share beneficial ownership. The Expedia Common Shares subject to the terms of the Diller Proxy and the Diller Assignment are referred to in the chart as Splitco's Expedia Common Shares and the remaining Expedia Common Shares of which Diller and Splitco share beneficial ownership are referred to in the chart as Diller's Expedia Common Shares.

09/23/2016 (Liberty Expedia Holdings, Inc.)

7.5 Binding Effect; Assignment . This Agreement and all of the provisions hereof shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns. Except with respect to a merger of a party, neither this Agreement nor any of the rights, interests or obligations hereunder shall be assigned by any party hereto without the prior written consent of the other parties; provided, however, that LIC and Splitco may assign their respective rights, interests, duties, liabilities and obligations under this Agreement to any of their respective wholly-owned Subsidiaries, but such assignment shall not relieve LIC or Splitco, as the assignor, of its obligations hereunder.

8.8 Binding Effect; Assignment . This Agreement and all of the provisions hereof shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns. Except with respect to a merger of a party, neither this Agreement nor any of the rights, interests or obligations hereunder shall be assigned by any party hereto without the prior written consent of the other party; provided, however, that each of Distributing and Splitco may assign its respective rights, interests, duties, liabilities and obligations under this Agreement to any other member of their Group, but such assignment shall not relieve Distributing or Splitco, as the assignor, of its liabilities or obligations hereunder.

12. Liberty Consent. To the extent this Agreement or the Diller Assignment constitutes a prohibited assignment of the Liberty Proxy pursuant to Section3.3(d)of the Stockholders Agreement, Liberty hereby consents to the assignment of the Liberty Proxy upon the execution of and pursuant to the terms of this Agreement and the Diller Assignment . For the avoidance of doubt, the foregoing consent does not affect any other provision of the Stockholders Agreement, which shall continue in full force and effect.

6.7Binding Effect; Assignment . This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Parties and their respective heirs, successors and permitted assigns. Nothing in this Agreement shall create or be deemed to create any third party beneficiary rights in any person or entity not a Party to this Agreement. No assignment of this Agreement or of any rights or obligations hereunder may be made by any Party hereto (by operation of law or otherwise) without the prior written consent of the other Party and any attempted assignment without the required consent shall be void; provided that prior to the Closing, the Purchaser may assign its rights and obligations hereunder to its Affiliates without the prior written consent of the Seller.

10/28/2020 (China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc.)

2. Assignment . Subject to and with effect from the SPA Closing, the Assignor hereby absolutely and irrevocably assigns all the rights, obligations and covenants of the Assignor with respect to and in connection with the Sale Shares under the IRA (as amended by this Assignment ) to the Assignee, and the Assignee hereby accepts the foregoing assignment and fully assumes the rights, obligations and covenants of the Assignor with respect to and in connection with the Sale Shares under the IRA (as amended by this Assignment ). The assignment of the IRA pursuant to the foregoing sentence of this Section 2 is referred to as the “IRA Assignment .” The Company hereby consents to the IRA Assignment pursuant to Section 8.5 (Successors and Assigns) of the IRA.

7.Binding Effect; Assignment . This Assignment shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective heirs, successors and permitted assigns. Nothing in this Assignment shall create or be deemed to create any third party beneficiary rights in any person or entity not a party to this Assignment . No assignment of this Assignment or of any rights or obligations hereunder may be made by any party hereto (by operation of law or otherwise) without the prior written consent of the other party (which consent, in each case, shall not be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned) and any attempted assignment without the required consent shall be void.

(b)Acknowledgment of the PWM IRA Assignment . The Parties acknowledge and agree that with effect from the effective date of the latest PWM IRA Assignment (the “Effective Time”), the PWM IRA shall be of no further force and effect with respect to PWM, and PWM shall have no further liability or obligation with respect thereto or any of the transactions contemplated thereby.

8.Amendment; Assignment . This Agreement may not be amended, modified or supplemented in any manner, whether by course of conduct or otherwise, except by an instrument in writing specifically designated as an amendment hereto, signed on behalf of each of the Parties. No Party may assign either this Agreement or any of its rights, interests, or obligations hereunder without the prior written approval of the other Party. Subject to the preceding sentence, this Agreement shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of the Parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns.

11.6 Binding Effect and Assignment . This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Parties and their respective permitted successors and assigns. Nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to confer upon any Person other than the Parties and their respective permitted successors and assigns, any rights, benefits or obligations hereunder, except as set forth in ARTICLE IX and Section11.1. No Party hereto may assign, transfer, dispose of or otherwise alienate this Agreement or any of its rights, interests or obligations under this Agreement (whether by operation of Law or otherwise) except that each of the Company and the Remora Holdings may transfer their respective rights and obligations hereunder to any Affiliate. Any attempted assignment , transfer, disposition or alienation in violation of this Agreement shall be null, void and ineffective.

08/30/2018 (Remora Royalties, Inc.)

(a) The division of this Assignment into articles, sections and other portions and the insertion of headings are for convenience of reference only and shall not affect the construction or interpretation hereof. Unless otherwise indicated, all references to an “Article” or “Section” followed by a number or a letter refer to the specified Article or Section of this Assignment . Unless otherwise indicated, all references to an “Exhibit” followed by a number or a letter refer to the specified Exhibit to this Assignment . The terms “this Assignment ,” “hereof,” “herein” and “hereunder” and similar expressions refer to this Assignment , including the exhibits and schedules hereto, and not to any particular Article, Section or other portion hereof. The words “shall” and “will” are used interchangeably throughout this Assignment and shall accordingly be given the same meaning, regardless of which word is used.

(c) The Parties have participated jointly in the negotiation and drafting of this Assignment . No provision of this Assignment will be interpreted in favor of, or against, any of the Parties by reason of the extent to which any such Party or its counsel participated in the drafting thereof or by reason of the extent to which any such provision is inconsistent with any prior draft of this Assignment , and no rule of strict construction will be applied against any Party hereto. This Assignment will not be interpreted or construed to require any person to take any action, or fail to take any action, if to do so would violate any applicable Law.

SECTION 5.03 Assignment . This Assignment shall inure to the benefit of and be binding on the Parties and their respective heirs, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

10. Assignment . This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns. In addition, and regardless of whether any express assignment shall have been made, the provisions of this Agreement which are for the benefit of the parties hereto other than the Company shall also be for the benefit of and enforceable by any subsequent holder of any Registrable Securities, subject to the provisions respecting the minimum numbers or percentages of Registrable Securities required in order to be entitled to certain rights, or take certain actions, contained herein.

(iv) Assignment and Assumption. The parties to each assignment shall execute and deliver an Assignment and Assumption, and the assignee(s) and/or assignor(s) party thereto shall deliver a processing and recordation fee of $3,500, in each case to Administrative Agent; provided that Administrative Agent may, in its discretion, elect to waive such processing and recordation fee in the case of any assignment . The assignee, if it is not a Lender, shall deliver to Administrative Agent an Administrative Questionnaire.

Congratulations on your assignment . Global Mobility is an important part of Teva’s growth, globalization,and talent initiatives. We believe that international assignment s help Teva achieve worldwide business targets while simultaneously developing employee’s capabilities and international business experience. We hope that you will benefit both personally and professionally from your experience. This letter summarizes the general terms and conditions of your assignment with Teva.

02/12/2018 (TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LTD)

* Your actual effective date of assignment will be determined following receipt of your authorization to work and reside in the Host country. This letter does not create a contract of employment, but simply seeks to confirm the conditions which pertain to your temporary international assignment . Should the nature of your position change or if this assignment extends beyond its initial duration the terms may be subject to change at that time. Teva reserves the right to modify the global assignment policies and procedures at any time in whole or in part, with or without notice.

Teva does not compensate for the loss of spousal/partner income as a result of the assignment , but rather recognizes that the financial impact exists. To ease the transition, Teva reimburses for job placement and related services if your spouse accompanies you full time on assignment . The maximum reimbursement is equivalent to 2000 USD. Reimbursement must be claimed within 12 months of the effective date of your assignment and Teva is responsible for any applicable taxes. Reimbursement will be processed by Teva’s dedicated relocation provider.

You will be provided one home leave every 12 months on assignment between your home country and your host country for you and your spouse. Teva covers round trip airfare, based on economy fare booked at least 30 days in advance and via the most direct route. Any ground transportation and/or lodging costs are your responsibility. You must use your vacation time for your home leave visits. To allow for unmarried dependent children enrolled in university outside the host location to visit you in the host location, the Company reimburses one round trip, economy airfare per child per the full duration of the assignment . Travel must be booked at least 30 days in advance via the most direct route.

In the event Teva, in its sole discretion, ends your international assignment before its scheduled end date, Teva will provide return trip airfare for you and your spouse back to the point of origin, and will ship household goods back to the point of origin or to some other mutually agreed upon location. Unless otherwise agreed to by regional management and Human Resources, the return must be completed within 60 days after the effective date of the termination of the international assignment . By failing to relocate within 60 days, you forfeit Teva’s offer to pay for repatriation transportation costs.

17. Assignment . This Agreement may be assigned, without the consent of the Executive, by Teva USA to any person, partnership, corporation or other entity that has purchased all or substantially all the assets of Teva USA; provided, that such assignee assumes any and all of the obligations of the Company hereunder. The Company shall cause any person, firm or corporation acquiring all or substantially all of the assets of Teva USA to execute a written instrument agreeing to assume any and all of the obligations of the Company hereunder as a condition to acquiring such assets.

19. No Assignment . The Parties agree that they have not, and will not, sell, transfer or assign, or purport to sell, transfer or assign, any Claim or interest in any claim that is the subject of the releases in this Agreement.

(d)Dispute Resolution. Except with respect to claims for breach of the obligations under Section 2 of this Agreement, for which the Company may seek enforcement in any court having competent jurisdiction at its election, any dispute arising between the Company and Employee with respect to the validity, performance or interpretation of this Agreement shall be submitted to and determined in binding arbitration in Hartford, Connecticut, for resolution in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association, modified to provide that the decision of the arbitrator shall be binding on the parties; shall be furnished in writing, separately and specifically stating the findings of fact and conclusions of law on which the decision is based; shall be kept confidential by the arbitrator and the parties; and shall be rendered within sixty (60) days following the arbitrator being impaneled. Costs and expenses of the arbitration shall be borne by the Company regardless of the outcome. The arbitrator shall be selected in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association. (e) Assignment . Without the prior written consent of Employee, this Agreement shall not be assignable by the Company. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by Employee’s heirs and legal representatives. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Company and its successors and assigns.

02/07/2020 (Otis Worldwide Corp)

The terms and conditions of your employment, other than as set out in this letter, remain unchanged throughout the temporary assignment . During your temporary assignment your employment will remain with Huntsman P&A Americas LLC (The Home Company) and shall continue to be governed by Texas and U.S. law. This letter sets out the details of your temporary assignment to Huntsman P&A UK Ltd (The Host Company) which continues until you are no longer employed with The Home Company or this temporary assignment ends.

07/14/2017 (Venator Materials PLC)

Although you will be working with The Host Company, your contract of employment with The Home Company will continue in existence during your assignment , except as herein provided. In particular, the provision regarding termination of employment will remain in full force and operation throughout the period of your assignment . However, notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the terms of Huntsman Corporation’s Executive Severance Plan (as attached) will apply to any termination of your employment. The following terms shall be in operation throughout the duration of your assignment .

As an equity participant, the taxation basis for your equity may change as a result of your assignment . Please consult with your Stock Partner for further information.

The Company-designated accounting firm will prepare your Home Country income tax return(s)for the duration of this assignment , and any subsequent years that are impacted by this assignment . Citizens or permanent residents must file a tax return each year, even when living abroad.

At the end of your assignment , the Company will assist with transferring your personal effects back to a location of your choice in your Home Country or on to a consecutive international assignment . The same limitations apply for repatriation of your HHG.

(f) Assignment . Neither this Agreement nor any of the rights or obligations hereunder may be assigned by the Company without the prior written consent of BBH; provided, however, that BBH may assign or transfer its duties or interests hereunder to any of its affiliates at the sole discretion of BBH and may otherwise assign, on a “shared basis”, its rights under Section4 to any affiliated private equity fund to the extent necessary to maintain venture capital operating company status. Subject to the foregoing, the provisions of this Agreement will be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns. Subject to the next sentence, no person or party other than the parties hereto and their respective successors or permitted assigns is intended to be a beneficiary of this Agreement. The parties acknowledge and agree that BBH and its affiliates and their respective partners (both general and limited), members (both managing and otherwise), officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives as well as any assignees pursuant to this Section7(f) are intended to be third-party beneficiaries under Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 hereof, as applicable.

01/15/2021 (Bumble Inc.)

(h) Assignment . This Agreement, and all of Executive’s rights and duties hereunder, shall not be assignable or delegable by Executive. Any purported assignment or delegation by Executive in violation of the foregoing shall be null and void ab initio and of no force and effect. This Agreement shall be assigned by the Company to a person or entity which is a successor in interest (“Successor”) to all or substantially all of the then-business operations of the Company; provided, that such Successor undertakes to be bound by the terms hereunder. Upon such assignment , the rights and obligations of the Company hereunder shall become the rights and obligations of such Successor.

SECTION1. Assignment . Assignor hereby sells, assigns, transfers, conveys, and delivers to Assignee all of Assignor’s worldwide right, title, and interest in, to, and under the trademark MAKE THE FIRST MOVE, the Application, any other worldwide registrations and applications for such trademark, and the goodwill of the business embodied therein and symbolized thereto, and all common-law rights related thereto (collectively, the “Mark”), free and clear of any liens or encumbrances of any kind, together with the right to bring an action or proceeding at law or in equity for any infringement, dilution or violation of the foregoing prior to the Effective Date, and the right to retain all monies, proceeds and damages therefrom.

SECTION3. Further Assurances. Each Party will, upon the other Party’s reasonable request, without further consideration but at the requesting Party’s expense, provide or execute all other documents and take all further actions as may be necessary to effectuate the purpose of this Assignment . Without limiting the foregoing, at Assignee’s request and expense, Assignor shall execute a short-form assignment to record the assignment herein at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

5. Assignment . Neither Maker nor Holders may assign any of its rights or obligations under this Note except with the prior written consent of the other. Subject to the first sentence of this Section 5, this Note is binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors, heirs, legal representatives, and permitted assigns.

05/01/2019 (Golden Developing Solutions, Inc.)

1. Assignment . In accordance with the terms and conditions of the Purchase Agreement, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, Seller does hereby sell, transfer, convey, assign and deliver unto Purchaser, its successors and assigns, all of the Assets, as such term is defined in the Purchase Agreement, including, without limitation, all of the assets set forth on Schedule 1 attached hereto, free and clear of any and all options, liens, security interests, encumbrances, mortgages, deeds of trust, liabilities, financing statements, pledges, charges, conditions, equitable claims, covenants, title defects, restrictions or claims of any kind, nature or description whatsoever (collectively, “Liens”), to have and to hold said Assets unto Purchaser, its successors and assigns, to and for its and/or their use forever.

6.Independent Covenants. This Assignment is subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Purchase Agreement. Nothing contained in this Assignment shall be deemed to diminish any of the obligations, agreements, covenants, representations or warranties of the parties contained in the Purchase Agreement. 7.Counterparts. This Assignment may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, and all of which when affixed together shall constitute but one and the same instrument. Manual signatures exchanged electronically by facsimile or email shall be deemed original signatures for all purposes. 8.Recitals. The recitals above are incorporated by reference into this Assignment . 9.Amendment and Governing Law. This Assignment shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the state of Colorado (without regards to the conflict of law principles thereof). No change in or amendment to this Assignment shall be valid unless set forth in a writing signed by both parties to this Assignment . THE PARTIES ACKNOWLEDGE THAT (A) COLORADO HAS PASSED AMENDMENTS TO THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION AND ENACTED CERTAIN LEGISLATION TO GOVERN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY AND (B) THE POSSESSION, SALE, MANUFACTURE, AND CULTIVATION OF CANNABIS IS ILLEGAL UNDER FEDERAL LAW. THE PARTIES WAIVE ANY DEFENSES BASED UPON INVALIDITY OF CONTRACTS FOR PUBLIC POLICY REASONS AND/OR THE SUBSTANCE OF THE CONTRACT VIOLATING FEDERAL LAW.

1. Assignment and Assumption. Seller hereby assigns the Material Contracts to Purchaser, and Purchaser hereby assumes and agrees to perform or otherwise carry out all of Seller’s obligations with respect to the Material Contracts. Seller agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Purchaser from any liability accruing from such Material Contracts before the date of this Assignment and Purchaser agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Seller from any liability accruing from such Material Contracts following the date of this Assignment . Notwithstanding the foregoing, Purchaser shall not assume, or become liable to pay, perform or discharge any liability for any Material Contract (unless Purchaser affirmatively elects otherwise in writing): (i) where Seller is in default prior to the date of this Assignment ; (ii) where the consent or approval of any person is required for Seller to assign or Purchaser to assume such Material Contract and such consent or approval is not obtained or waived in writing by Purchaser before the date of this Assignment ; or (iii) where any notice to any person is required for Seller to assign or Purchaser to assume such Material Contract and such notice is not provided to such person or waived in writing by Purchaser before the date hereof.

9. Amendment and Governing Law. This Assignment shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the state of Colorado (without regards to the conflict of law principles thereof). No change in or amendment to this Assignment shall be valid unless set forth in a writing signed by both parties to this Assignment . THE PARTIES ACKNOWLEDGE THAT (A) COLORADO HAS PASSED AMENDMENTS TO THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION AND ENACTED CERTAIN LEGISLATION TO GOVERN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY AND (B) THE POSSESSION, SALE, MANUFACTURE, AND CULTIVATION OF CANNABIS IS ILLEGAL UNDER FEDERAL LAW. THE PARTIES WAIVE ANY DEFENSES BASED UPON INVALIDITY OF CONTRACTS FOR PUBLIC POLICY REASONS AND/OR THE SUBSTANCE OF THE CONTRACT VIOLATING FEDERAL LAW.

9 If to the Company: If to Executive: Tyler Bartholomew (c) Assignment . This Agreement will be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors, personal representatives, heirs and assigns. Neither Party may assign any of its rights or obligations under this Agreement except with the prior written consent of other Party.

(iv) Assignment and Assumption. The parties to each assignment shall execute and deliver to the Administrative Agent an Assignment and Assumption, together with a processing and recordation fee in the amount of $3,500; provided, however, that the Administrative Agent may, in its sole discretion, elect to waive such processing and recordation fee in the case of any assignment . The assignee, if it is not a Lender, shall deliver to the Administrative Agent an administrative questionnaire in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent.

05/02/2018 (AMERICAN TOWER CORP /MA/)

Subject to acceptance and recording thereof by the Administrative Agent pursuant to subsection (c)of this Section, from and after the effective date specified in each Assignment and Assumption, the assignee thereunder shall be a party to this Agreement and, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Assumption, have the rights and obligations of a Lender under this Agreement, and the assigning Lender thereunder shall, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Assumption, be released from its obligations under this Agreement (and, in the case of an Assignment and Assumption covering all of the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, such Lender shall cease to be a party hereto) but shall continue to be entitled to the benefits of Sections 10.2, 10.3 and 10.5 with respect to facts and circumstances occurring prior to the effective date of such assignment . Upon request, the Borrower (at its expense) shall execute and deliver a Note to the assignee Lender. Any assignment or transfer by a Lender of rights or obligations under this Agreement that does not comply with this subsection shall be treated for purposes of this Agreement as a sale by such Lender of a participation in such rights and obligations in accordance with subsection (d)of this Section.

Subject to acceptance and recording thereof by the Administrative Agent pursuant to Section 22.3, from and after the effective date specified in each Assignment and Assumption, the Eligible Assignee thereunder shall be a party to this Agreement and, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Assumption, have the rights and obligations of a Lender under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, including any collateral security, and the assigning Lender thereunder shall, to the extent of the interest assigned by such Assignment and Assumption, be released from its obligations under this Agreement (and, in the case of an Assignment and Assumption covering all of the assigning Lender’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, such Lender shall cease to be a party hereto) but shall continue to be entitled to the benefits of ARTICLE 17 and ARTICLE 21, and shall continue to be liable for any breach of this Agreement by such Lender, with respect to facts and circumstances occurring prior to the effective date of such assignment . Any assignment or transfer by a Lender of rights or obligations under this Agreement that does not comply with this section shall be treated for purposes of this Agreement as a sale by such Lender of a participation in such rights and obligations in accordance with Section 22.4. Any payment by an assignee to an assigning Lender in connection with an assignment or transfer shall not be or be deemed to be a repayment by the Borrower or a new Loan to the Borrower.

02/26/2021 (GFL Environmental Inc.)

(iv) Assignment and Assumption. The parties to each assignment shall execute and deliver to the Administrative Agent an Assignment and Assumption, which shall include, inter alia, a representation by the assignee that it is an Eligible Assignee, any tax forms required by Section 3.01 (unless such assignee is already a Lender), together with a processing and recordation fee of $3,500; provided that the Administrative Agent may, in its sole discretion, elect to waive or reduce such processing and recordation fee in the case of any assignment . The Eligible Assignee, if it shall not be a Lender, shall deliver to the Administrative Agent an Administrative Questionnaire. All assignment s shall be by novation.

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Legal Templates

Home Assignment Agreement

Assignment Agreement Template

Use our assignment agreement to transfer contractual obligations.

Updated February 1, 2024 Written by Josh Sainsbury | Reviewed by Brooke Davis

An assignment agreement is a legal document that transfers rights, responsibilities, and benefits from one party (the “assignor”) to another (the “assignee”). You can use it to reassign debt, real estate, intellectual property, leases, insurance policies, and government contracts.

What Is an Assignment Agreement?

What to include in an assignment agreement, how to assign a contract, how to write an assignment agreement, assignment agreement sample.

Partnership Interest

An assignment agreement effectively transfers the rights and obligations of a person or entity under an initial contract to another. The original party is the assignor, and the assignee takes on the contract’s duties and benefits.

It’s often a requirement to let the other party in the original deal know the contract is being transferred. It’s essential to create this form thoughtfully, as a poorly written assignment agreement may leave the assignor obligated to certain aspects of the deal.

The most common use of an assignment agreement occurs when the assignor no longer can or wants to continue with a contract. Instead of leaving the initial party or breaking the agreement, the assignor can transfer the contract to another individual or entity.

For example, imagine a small residential trash collection service plans to close its operations. Before it closes, the business brokers a deal to send its accounts to a curbside pickup company providing similar services. After notifying account holders, the latter company continues the service while receiving payment.

Create a thorough assignment agreement by including the following information:

• Effective Date:  The document must indicate when the transfer of rights and obligations occurs.
• Parties:  Include the full name and address of the assignor, assignee, and obligor (if required).
• Assignment:  Provide details that identify the original contract being assigned.
• Third-Party Approval: If the initial contract requires the approval of the obligor, note the date the approval was received.
• Signatures:  Both parties must sign and date the printed assignment contract template once completed. If a notary is required, wait until you are in the presence of the official and present identification before signing. Failure to do so may result in having to redo the assignment contract.

Review the Contract Terms

Carefully review the terms of the existing contract. Some contracts may have specific provisions regarding assignment. Check for any restrictions or requirements related to assigning the contract.

Check for Anti-Assignment Clauses

Some contracts include anti-assignment clauses that prohibit or restrict the ability to assign the contract without the consent of the other party. If there’s such a clause, you may need the consent of the original parties to proceed.

Determine Assignability

Ensure that the contract is assignable. Some contracts, especially those involving personal services or unique skills, may not be assignable without the other party’s agreement.

Get Consent from the Other Party (if Required)

If the contract includes an anti-assignment clause or requires consent for assignment, seek written consent from the other party. This can often be done through a formal amendment to the contract.

Prepare an Assignment Agreement

Draft an assignment agreement that clearly outlines the transfer of rights and obligations from the assignor (the party assigning the contract) to the assignee (the party receiving the assignment). Include details such as the names of the parties, the effective date of the assignment, and the specific rights and obligations being transferred.

Include Original Contract Information

Attach a copy of the original contract or reference its key terms in the assignment agreement. This helps in clearly identifying the contract being assigned.

Execution of the Assignment Agreement

Both the assignor and assignee should sign the assignment agreement. Signatures should be notarized if required by the contract or local laws.

Notice to the Other Party

Provide notice of the assignment to the non-assigning party. This can be done formally through a letter or as specified in the contract.

File the Assignment

File the assignment agreement with the appropriate parties or entities as required. This may include filing with the original contracting party or relevant government authorities.

Communicate with Third Parties

Inform any relevant third parties, such as suppliers, customers, or service providers, about the assignment to ensure a smooth transition.

Keep Copies for Records

Keep copies of the assignment agreement, original contract, and any related communications for your records.

Here’s a list of steps on how to write an assignment agreement:

Step 1 – List the Assignor’s and Assignee’s Details

List all of the pertinent information regarding the parties involved in the transfer. This information includes their full names, addresses, phone numbers, and other relevant contact information.

This step clarifies who’s transferring the initial contract and who will take on its responsibilities.

Step 2 – Provide Original Contract Information

Describing and identifying the contract that is effectively being reassigned is essential. This step avoids any confusion after the transfer has been completed.

Step 3 – State the Consideration

Provide accurate information regarding the amount the assignee pays to assume the contract. This figure should include taxes and any relevant peripheral expenses. If the assignee will pay the consideration over a period, indicate the method and installments.

Step 4 – Provide Any Terms and Conditions

The terms and conditions of any agreement are crucial to a smooth transaction. You must cover issues such as dispute resolution, governing law, obligor approval, and any relevant clauses.

Step 5 – Obtain Signatures

Both parties must sign the agreement to ensure it is legally binding and that they have read and understood the contract. If a notary is required, wait to sign off in their presence.

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• assignments basic law

Assignments: The Basic Law

The assignment of a right or obligation is a common contractual event under the law and the right to assign (or prohibition against assignments) is found in the majority of agreements, leases and business structural documents created in the United States.

As with many terms commonly used, people are familiar with the term but often are not aware or fully aware of what the terms entail. The concept of assignment of rights and obligations is one of those simple concepts with wide ranging ramifications in the contractual and business context and the law imposes severe restrictions on the validity and effect of assignment in many instances. Clear contractual provisions concerning assignments and rights should be in every document and structure created and this article will outline why such drafting is essential for the creation of appropriate and effective contracts and structures.

The reader should first read the article on Limited Liability Entities in the United States and Contracts since the information in those articles will be assumed in this article.

Basic Definitions and Concepts:

An assignment is the transfer of rights held by one party called the “assignor” to another party called the “assignee.” The legal nature of the assignment and the contractual terms of the agreement between the parties determines some additional rights and liabilities that accompany the assignment. The assignment of rights under a contract usually completely transfers the rights to the assignee to receive the benefits accruing under the contract. Ordinarily, the term assignment is limited to the transfer of rights that are intangible, like contractual rights and rights connected with property. Merchants Service Co. v. Small Claims Court , 35 Cal. 2d 109, 113-114 (Cal. 1950).

An assignment will generally be permitted under the law unless there is an express prohibition against assignment in the underlying contract or lease. Where assignments are permitted, the assignor need not consult the other party to the contract but may merely assign the rights at that time. However, an assignment cannot have any adverse effect on the duties of the other party to the contract, nor can it diminish the chance of the other party receiving complete performance. The assignor normally remains liable unless there is an agreement to the contrary by the other party to the contract.

The effect of a valid assignment is to remove privity between the assignor and the obligor and create privity between the obligor and the assignee. Privity is usually defined as a direct and immediate contractual relationship. See Merchants case above.

Further, for the assignment to be effective in most jurisdictions, it must occur in the present. One does not normally assign a future right; the assignment vests immediate rights and obligations.

No specific language is required to create an assignment so long as the assignor makes clear his/her intent to assign identified contractual rights to the assignee. Since expensive litigation can erupt from ambiguous or vague language, obtaining the correct verbiage is vital. An agreement must manifest the intent to transfer rights and can either be oral or in writing and the rights assigned must be certain.

Note that an assignment of an interest is the transfer of some identifiable property, claim, or right from the assignor to the assignee. The assignment operates to transfer to the assignee all of the rights, title, or interest of the assignor in the thing assigned. A transfer of all rights, title, and interests conveys everything that the assignor owned in the thing assigned and the assignee stands in the shoes of the assignor. Knott v. McDonald’s Corp ., 985 F. Supp. 1222 (N.D. Cal. 1997)

The parties must intend to effectuate an assignment at the time of the transfer, although no particular language or procedure is necessary. As long ago as the case of National Reserve Co. v. Metropolitan Trust Co ., 17 Cal. 2d 827 (Cal. 1941), the court held that in determining what rights or interests pass under an assignment, the intention of the parties as manifested in the instrument is controlling.

The intent of the parties to an assignment is a question of fact to be derived not only from the instrument executed by the parties but also from the surrounding circumstances. When there is no writing to evidence the intention to transfer some identifiable property, claim, or right, it is necessary to scrutinize the surrounding circumstances and parties’ acts to ascertain their intentions. Strosberg v. Brauvin Realty Servs., 295 Ill. App. 3d 17 (Ill. App. Ct. 1st Dist. 1998)

The general rule applicable to assignments of choses in action is that an assignment, unless there is a contract to the contrary, carries with it all securities held by the assignor as collateral to the claim and all rights incidental thereto and vests in the assignee the equitable title to such collateral securities and incidental rights. An unqualified assignment of a contract or chose in action, however, with no indication of the intent of the parties, vests in the assignee the assigned contract or chose and all rights and remedies incidental thereto.

More examples: In Strosberg v. Brauvin Realty Servs ., 295 Ill. App. 3d 17 (Ill. App. Ct. 1st Dist. 1998), the court held that the assignee of a party to a subordination agreement is entitled to the benefits and is subject to the burdens of the agreement. In Florida E. C. R. Co. v. Eno , 99 Fla. 887 (Fla. 1930), the court held that the mere assignment of all sums due in and of itself creates no different or other liability of the owner to the assignee than that which existed from the owner to the assignor.

And note that even though an assignment vests in the assignee all rights, remedies, and contingent benefits which are incidental to the thing assigned, those which are personal to the assignor and for his sole benefit are not assigned. Rasp v. Hidden Valley Lake, Inc ., 519 N.E.2d 153, 158 (Ind. Ct. App. 1988). Thus, if the underlying agreement provides that a service can only be provided to X, X cannot assign that right to Y.

Novation Compared to Assignment:

Although the difference between a novation and an assignment may appear narrow, it is an essential one. “Novation is a act whereby one party transfers all its obligations and benefits under a contract to a third party.” In a novation, a third party successfully substitutes the original party as a party to the contract. “When a contract is novated, the other contracting party must be left in the same position he was in prior to the novation being made.”

A sublease is the transfer when a tenant retains some right of reentry onto the leased premises. However, if the tenant transfers the entire leasehold estate, retaining no right of reentry or other reversionary interest, then the transfer is an assignment. The assignor is normally also removed from liability to the landlord only if the landlord consents or allowed that right in the lease. In a sublease, the original tenant is not released from the obligations of the original lease.

Equitable Assignments:

An equitable assignment is one in which one has a future interest and is not valid at law but valid in a court of equity. In National Bank of Republic v. United Sec. Life Ins. & Trust Co. , 17 App. D.C. 112 (D.C. Cir. 1900), the court held that to constitute an equitable assignment of a chose in action, the following has to occur generally: anything said written or done, in pursuance of an agreement and for valuable consideration, or in consideration of an antecedent debt, to place a chose in action or fund out of the control of the owner, and appropriate it to or in favor of another person, amounts to an equitable assignment. Thus, an agreement, between a debtor and a creditor, that the debt shall be paid out of a specific fund going to the debtor may operate as an equitable assignment.

In Egyptian Navigation Co. v. Baker Invs. Corp. , 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30804 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 14, 2008), the court stated that an equitable assignment occurs under English law when an assignor, with an intent to transfer his/her right to a chose in action, informs the assignee about the right so transferred.

An executory agreement or a declaration of trust are also equitable assignments if unenforceable as assignments by a court of law but enforceable by a court of equity exercising sound discretion according to the circumstances of the case. Since California combines courts of equity and courts of law, the same court would hear arguments as to whether an equitable assignment had occurred. Quite often, such relief is granted to avoid fraud or unjust enrichment.

Note that obtaining an assignment through fraudulent means invalidates the assignment. Fraud destroys the validity of everything into which it enters. It vitiates the most solemn contracts, documents, and even judgments. Walker v. Rich , 79 Cal. App. 139 (Cal. App. 1926). If an assignment is made with the fraudulent intent to delay, hinder, and defraud creditors, then it is void as fraudulent in fact. See our article on Transfers to Defraud Creditors .

But note that the motives that prompted an assignor to make the transfer will be considered as immaterial and will constitute no defense to an action by the assignee, if an assignment is considered as valid in all other respects.

Enforceability of Assignments:

Whether a right under a contract is capable of being transferred is determined by the law of the place where the contract was entered into. The validity and effect of an assignment is determined by the law of the place of assignment. The validity of an assignment of a contractual right is governed by the law of the state with the most significant relationship to the assignment and the parties.

In some jurisdictions, the traditional conflict of laws rules governing assignments has been rejected and the law of the place having the most significant contacts with the assignment applies. In Downs v. American Mut. Liability Ins. Co ., 14 N.Y.2d 266 (N.Y. 1964), a wife and her husband separated and the wife obtained a judgment of separation from the husband in New York. The judgment required the husband to pay a certain yearly sum to the wife. The husband assigned 50 percent of his future salary, wages, and earnings to the wife. The agreement authorized the employer to make such payments to the wife.

After the husband moved from New York, the wife learned that he was employed by an employer in Massachusetts. She sent the proper notice and demanded payment under the agreement. The employer refused and the wife brought an action for enforcement. The court observed that Massachusetts did not prohibit assignment of the husband’s wages. Moreover, Massachusetts law was not controlling because New York had the most significant relationship with the assignment. Therefore, the court ruled in favor of the wife.

Therefore, the validity of an assignment is determined by looking to the law of the forum with the most significant relationship to the assignment itself. To determine the applicable law of assignments, the court must look to the law of the state which is most significantly related to the principal issue before it.

Assignment of Contractual Rights:

Generally, the law allows the assignment of a contractual right unless the substitution of rights would materially change the duty of the obligor, materially increase the burden or risk imposed on the obligor by the contract, materially impair the chance of obtaining return performance, or materially reduce the value of the performance to the obligor. Restat 2d of Contracts, § 317(2)(a). This presumes that the underlying agreement is silent on the right to assign.

If the contract specifically precludes assignment, the contractual right is not assignable. Whether a contract is assignable is a matter of contractual intent and one must look to the language used by the parties to discern that intent.

In the absence of an express provision to the contrary, the rights and duties under a bilateral executory contract that does not involve personal skill, trust, or confidence may be assigned without the consent of the other party. But note that an assignment is invalid if it would materially alter the other party’s duties and responsibilities. Once an assignment is effective, the assignee stands in the shoes of the assignor and assumes all of assignor’s rights. Hence, after a valid assignment, the assignor’s right to performance is extinguished, transferred to assignee, and the assignee possesses the same rights, benefits, and remedies assignor once possessed. Robert Lamb Hart Planners & Architects v. Evergreen, Ltd. , 787 F. Supp. 753 (S.D. Ohio 1992).

On the other hand, an assignee’s right against the obligor is subject to “all of the limitations of the assignor’s right, all defenses thereto, and all set-offs and counterclaims which would have been available against the assignor had there been no assignment, provided that these defenses and set-offs are based on facts existing at the time of the assignment.” See Robert Lamb , case, above.

The power of the contract to restrict assignment is broad. Usually, contractual provisions that restrict assignment of the contract without the consent of the obligor are valid and enforceable, even when there is statutory authorization for the assignment. The restriction of the power to assign is often ineffective unless the restriction is expressly and precisely stated. Anti-assignment clauses are effective only if they contain clear, unambiguous language of prohibition. Anti-assignment clauses protect only the obligor and do not affect the transaction between the assignee and assignor.

Usually, a prohibition against the assignment of a contract does not prevent an assignment of the right to receive payments due, unless circumstances indicate the contrary. Moreover, the contracting parties cannot, by a mere non-assignment provision, prevent the effectual alienation of the right to money which becomes due under the contract.

A contract provision prohibiting or restricting an assignment may be waived, or a party may so act as to be estopped from objecting to the assignment, such as by effectively ratifying the assignment. The power to void an assignment made in violation of an anti-assignment clause may be waived either before or after the assignment. See our article on Contracts.

Noncompete Clauses and Assignments:

Of critical import to most buyers of businesses is the ability to ensure that key employees of the business being purchased cannot start a competing company. Some states strictly limit such clauses, some do allow them. California does restrict noncompete clauses, only allowing them under certain circumstances. A common question in those states that do allow them is whether such rights can be assigned to a new party, such as the buyer of the buyer.

A covenant not to compete, also called a non-competitive clause, is a formal agreement prohibiting one party from performing similar work or business within a designated area for a specified amount of time. This type of clause is generally included in contracts between employer and employee and contracts between buyer and seller of a business.

Many workers sign a covenant not to compete as part of the paperwork required for employment. It may be a separate document similar to a non-disclosure agreement, or buried within a number of other clauses in a contract. A covenant not to compete is generally legal and enforceable, although there are some exceptions and restrictions.

Whenever a company recruits skilled employees, it invests a significant amount of time and training. For example, it often takes years before a research chemist or a design engineer develops a workable knowledge of a company’s product line, including trade secrets and highly sensitive information. Once an employee gains this knowledge and experience, however, all sorts of things can happen. The employee could work for the company until retirement, accept a better offer from a competing company or start up his or her own business.

A covenant not to compete may cover a number of potential issues between employers and former employees. Many companies spend years developing a local base of customers or clients. It is important that this customer base not fall into the hands of local competitors. When an employee signs a covenant not to compete, he or she usually agrees not to use insider knowledge of the company’s customer base to disadvantage the company. The covenant not to compete often defines a broad geographical area considered off-limits to former employees, possibly tens or hundreds of miles.

Another area of concern covered by a covenant not to compete is a potential ‘brain drain’. Some high-level former employees may seek to recruit others from the same company to create new competition. Retention of employees, especially those with unique skills or proprietary knowledge, is vital for most companies, so a covenant not to compete may spell out definite restrictions on the hiring or recruiting of employees.

A covenant not to compete may also define a specific amount of time before a former employee can seek employment in a similar field. Many companies offer a substantial severance package to make sure former employees are financially solvent until the terms of the covenant not to compete have been met.

Because the use of a covenant not to compete can be controversial, a handful of states, including California, have largely banned this type of contractual language. The legal enforcement of these agreements falls on individual states, and many have sided with the employee during arbitration or litigation. A covenant not to compete must be reasonable and specific, with defined time periods and coverage areas. If the agreement gives the company too much power over former employees or is ambiguous, state courts may declare it to be overbroad and therefore unenforceable. In such case, the employee would be free to pursue any employment opportunity, including working for a direct competitor or starting up a new company of his or her own.

It has been held that an employee’s covenant not to compete is assignable where one business is transferred to another, that a merger does not constitute an assignment of a covenant not to compete, and that a covenant not to compete is enforceable by a successor to the employer where the assignment does not create an added burden of employment or other disadvantage to the employee. However, in some states such as Hawaii, it has also been held that a covenant not to compete is not assignable and under various statutes for various reasons that such covenants are not enforceable against an employee by a successor to the employer. Hawaii v. Gannett Pac. Corp. , 99 F. Supp. 2d 1241 (D. Haw. 1999)

It is vital to obtain the relevant law of the applicable state before drafting or attempting to enforce assignment rights in this particular area.

Conclusion:

In the current business world of fast changing structures, agreements, employees and projects, the ability to assign rights and obligations is essential to allow flexibility and adjustment to new situations. Conversely, the ability to hold a contracting party into the deal may be essential for the future of a party. Thus, the law of assignments and the restriction on same is a critical aspect of every agreement and every structure. This basic provision is often glanced at by the contracting parties, or scribbled into the deal at the last minute but can easily become the most vital part of the transaction.

As an example, one client of ours came into the office outraged that his co venturer on a sizable exporting agreement, who had excellent connections in Brazil, had elected to pursue another venture instead and assigned the agreement to a party unknown to our client and without the business contacts our client considered vital. When we examined the handwritten agreement our client had drafted in a restaurant in Sao Paolo, we discovered there was no restriction on assignment whatsoever…our client had not even considered that right when drafting the agreement after a full day of work.

One choses who one does business with carefully…to ensure that one’s choice remains the party on the other side of the contract, one must master the ability to negotiate proper assignment provisions.

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Assignment provisions in contracts

Author’s note, Nov. 22, 2014: For a much-improved update of this page, see the Common Draft general provisions article .

(For more real-world stories like the ones below, see my PDF e-book, Signing a Business Contract? A Quick Checklist for Greater Peace of Mind , a compendium of tips and true stories to help you steer clear of various possible minefields. Learn more …. )

Table of Contents

Legal background: Contracts generally are freely assignable

When a party to a contract “ assigns ” the contract to someone else, it means that party, known as the assignor , has transferred its rights under the contract to someone else, known as the assignee , and also has delegated its obligations to the assignee.

Under U.S. law, most contract rights are freely assignable , and most contract duties are freely delegable, absent some special character of the duty, unless the agreement says otherwise. In some situations, however, the parties will not want their opposite numbers to be able to assign the agreement freely; contracts often include language to this effect.

Intellectual-property licenses are an exception to the general rule of assignability. Under U.S. law, an IP licensee may not assign its license rights, nor delegate its license obligations, without the licensor’s consent, even when the license agreement is silent. See, for example, In re XMH Corp. , 647 F.3d 690 (7th Cir. 2011) (Posner, J; trademark licenses); Cincom Sys., Inc. v. Novelis Corp. , 581 F.3d 431 (6th Cir. 2009) (copyright licenses); Rhone-Poulenc Agro, S.A. v. DeKalb Genetics Corp. , 284 F.3d 1323 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (patent licenses). For additional information, see this article by John Paul, Brian Kacedon, and Douglas W. Meier of the Finnegan Henderson firm.

Assignment consent requirements

Model language

[Party name] may not assign this Agreement to any other person without the express prior written consent of the other party or its successor in interest, as applicable, except as expressly provided otherwise in this Agreement. A putative assignment made without such required consent will have no effect.

Optional: Nor may [Party name] assign any right or interest arising out of this Agreement, in whole or in part, without such consent.

Alternative: For the avoidance of doubt, consent is not required for an assignment (absolute, collateral, or other) or pledge of, nor for any grant of a security interest in, a right to payment under this Agreement.

Optional: An assignment of this Agreement by operation of law, as a result of a merger, consolidation, amalgamation, or other transaction or series of transactions, requires consent to the same extent as would an assignment to the same assignee outside of such a transaction or series of transactions.

• An assignment-consent requirement like this can give the non-assigning party a chokehold on a future merger or corporate reorganization by the assigning party — see the case illustrations below.

• A party being asked to agree to an assignment-consent requirement should consider trying to negotiate one of the carve-out provisions below, for example, when the assignment is connection with a sale of substantially all the assets of the assignor’s business {Link} .

Case illustrations

The dubai port deal (ny times story and story ).

In 2006, a Dubai company that operated several U.S. ports agreed to sell those operations. (The agreement came about because of publicity and political pressure about the alleged national-security implications of having Middle-Eastern companies in charge of U.S. port operations.)

A complication arose in the case of the Port of Newark: The Dubai company’s lease agreement gave the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey the right to consent to any assignment of the agreement — and that agency initially demanded $84 million for its consent.

After harsh criticism from political leaders, the Port Authority backed down a bit: it gave consent in return for “only” a $10 million consent fee, plus $40 million investment commitment by the buyer.

Cincom Sys., Inc. v. Novelis Corp., No. 07-4142 (6th Cir. Sept. 25, 2009) (affirming summary judgment)

A customer of a software vendor did an internal reorganization. As a result, the vendor’s software ended up being used by a sister company of the original customer. The vendor demanded that the sister company buy a new license. The sister company refused.

The vendor sued, successfully, for copyright infringement, and received the price of a new license, more than $450,000 as its damages. The case is discussed in more detail in this blog posting.

The vendor’s behavior strikes me as extremely shortsighted, for a couple of reasons: First, I wouldn’t bet much on the likelihood the customer would ever buy anything again from that vendor. Second, I would bet that the word got around about what the vendor did, and that this didn’t do the vendor’s reputation any good.

Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC v. Roche Diagnostics GmbH, No. 5589-VCP (Del. Ch. Apr. 8, 2011) (denying motion to dismiss).

The Delaware Chancery Court refused to rule out the possibility that a reverse triangular merger could act as an assignment of a contract, which under the contract terms would have required consent. See also the discussion of this opinion by Katherine Jones of the Sheppard Mullin law firm.

Assignment with transfer of business assets

Consent is not required for an assignment of this Agreement in connection with a sale or other disposition of substantially all the assets of the assigning party’s business.

Optional: Alternatively, the sale or other disposition may be of substantially all the assets of the assigning party’s business to which this Agreement specifically relates.

Optional: The assignee must not be a competitor of the non-assigning party.

• A prospective assigning party might argue that it needed to keep control of its own strategic destiny, for example by preserving its freedom to sell off a product line or division (or even the whole company) in an asset sale.

• A non-assigning party might argue that it could not permit the assignment of the agreement to one of its competitors, and that the only way to ensure this was to retain a veto over any assignment.

• Another approach might be to give the non-assigning party, instead of a veto over asset-disposition assignments, the right to terminate the contract for convenience . (Of course, the implications of termination would have to be carefully thought through.)

Assignment to affiliate

[Either party] may assign this Agreement without consent to its affiliate.

Optional: The assigning party must unconditionally guarantee the assignee’s performance.

Optional: The affiliate must not be a competitor of the non-assigning party.

Optional: The affiliate must be a majority-ownership affiliate of the assigning party.

• A prospective assigning party might argue for the right to assign to an affiliate to preserve its freedom to move assets around within its “corporate family” without having to seek approval.

• The other party might reasonably object that there is no way to know in advance whether an affiliate-assignee would be in a position to fulfill the assigning party’s obligations under the contract, nor whether it would have reachable assets in case of a breach.

Editorial comment: Before approving a blanket affiliate-assignment authorization, a party should consider whether it knew enough about the other party’s existing- or future affiliates to be comfortable with where the agreement might end up.

Consent may not be unreasonably withheld or delayed

Consent to an assignment of this Agreement requiring it may not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.

Optional: For the avoidance of doubt, any damages suffered by a party seeking a required consent to assignment of this Agreement, resulting from an unreasonable withholding or delay of such consent, are to be treated as direct damages.

Optional: For the avoidance of doubt, any damages suffered by a party seeking a required consent to assignment of this Agreement, resulting from an unreasonable withholding or delay of such consent, are not subject to any exclusion of remedies or other limitation of liability in this Agreement.

• Even if this provision were absent, applicable law might impose a reasonableness requirement; see the discussion of the Shoney case in the commentary to the Consent at discretion provision.

• A reasonableness requirement might not be of much practical value, whether contractual or implied by law. Such a requirement could not guarantee that the non-assigning party would give its consent when the assigning party wants it. And by the time a court could resolve the matter, the assigning party’s deal could have been blown.

• Still, an unreasonable-withholding provision should make the non-assigning party think twice about dragging its feet too much, becuase of the prospect of being held liable for damages for a busted transaction. Cf. Pennzoil vs. Texaco and its $10.5 billion damage award for tortious interference with an M&A deal.

• Including an unreasonable-delay provision might conflict with the Materiality of assignment breach provision, for reasons discussed there in the summary of the Hess Energy case.

Consent at discretion

A party having the right to grant or withhold consent to an assignment of this Agreement may do so in its sole and unfettered discretion.

• If a party might want the absolute right to withhold consent to an assignment in its sole discretion, it would be a good idea to try to include that in the contract language. Otherwise, there’s a risk that court might impose a commercial-reasonableness test under applicable law (see the next bullet). On the other hand, asking for such language but not getting it could be fatal to the party’s case that it was implicitly entitled to withhold consent in its discretion.

• If a commercial- or residential lease agreement requires the landlord’s consent before the tentant can assign the lease, state law might impose a reasonableness requirement. I haven’t researched this, but ran across an unpublished California opinion and an old law review article, each collecting cases. See Nevada Atlantic Corp. v. Wrec Lido Venture, LLC, No. G039825 (Cal. App. Dec. 8, 2008) (unpublished; reversing judgment that sole-discretion withholding of consent was unreasonable); Paul J. Weddle, Pacific First Bank v. New Morgan Park Corporation: Reasonable Withholding of Consent to Commercial Lease Assignments , 31 Willamette L. Rev. 713 (1995) (first page available for free at HeinOnline ).

Shoney’s LLC v. MAC East, LLC, No. 1071465 (Ala. Jul. 31, 2009)

In 2009, the Alabama Supreme Court rejected a claim that Shoney’s restaurant chain breached a contract when it demanded a $70,000 to $90,000 payment as the price of its consent to a proposed sublease. The supreme court noted that the contract specifically gave Shoney’s the right, in its sole discretion , to consent to any proposed assignment or sublease.

Significantly, prior case law from Alabama was to the effect that a refusal to consent would indeed be judged by a commercial-reasonableness standard. But, the supreme court said, “[w]here the parties to a contract use language that is inconsistent with a commercial-reasonableness standard, the terms of such contract will not be altered by an implied covenant of good faith. Therefore, an unqualified express standard such as ‘sole discretion’ is also to be construed as written.” Shoney’s LLC v. MAC East, LLC , No. 1071465 (Ala. Jul. 31, 2009) (on certification by Eleventh Circuit), cited by MAC East, LLC v. Shoney’s [LLC] , No. 07-11534 (11th Cir. Aug. 11, 2009), reversing No. 2:05-cv-1038-MEF (WO) (M.D. Ala. Jan. 8, 2007) (granting partial summary judgment that Shoney’s had breached the contract).

Termination by non-assigning party

A non-assigning party may terminate this Agreement, in its business discretion , by giving notice to that effect no later than 60 days after receiving notice, from either the assigning party or the assignee, that an assignment of the Agreement has become effective.

Consider an agreement in which a vendor is to provide ongoing services to a customer. A powerful customer might demand the right to consent to the vendor’s assignment of the agreement, even in strategic transactions. The vendor, on the other hand, might refuse to give any customer that kind of control of its strategic options.

A workable compromise might be to allow the customer to terminate the agreement during a stated window of time after the assignment if it is not happy with the new vendor.

Assignment – other provisions

Optional: Delegation: For the avoidance of doubt, an assignment of this Agreement operates as a transfer of the assigning party’s rights and a delegation of its duties under this Agreement.

Optional: Promise to perform: For the avoidance of doubt, an assignee’s acceptance of an assignment of this Agreement constitutes the assignee’s promise to perform the assigning party’s duties under the Agreement. That promise is enforceable by either the assigning party or by the non-assigning party.

Optional: Written assumption by assignee: IF: The non-assigning party so requests of an assignee of this Agreement; THEN: The assignee will seasonably provide the non-assigning party with a written assumption of the assignor’s obligations, duly executed by or on behalf of the assignee; ELSE: The assignment will be of no effect.

Optional: No release: For the avoidance of doubt, an assignment of this Agreement does not release the assigning party from its responsibility for performance of its duties under the Agreement unless the non-assigning party so agrees in writing.

Optional: Confidentiality: A non-assigning party will preserve in confidence any non-public information about an actual- or proposed assignment of this Agreement that may be disclosed to that party by a party participating in, or seeking consent for, the assignment.

The Delegation provision might not be necessary in a contract for the sale of goods governed by the Uniform Commercial Code, because a similar provision is found in UCC 2-210

The Confidentiality provision would be useful if a party to the agreement anticipated that it might be engaging in any kind of merger or other strategic transaction.

Materiality of assignment breach

IF: A party breaches any requirement of this Agreement that the party obtain another party’s consent to assign this Agreement; THEN: Such breach is to be treated as a material breach of this Agreement.

A chief significance of this kind of provision is that failure to obtain consent to assignment, if it were a material breach, would give the non-assigning party the right to terminate the Agreement.

If an assignment-consent provision requires that consent not be unreasonably withheld , then failure to obtain consent to a reasonable assignment would not be a material breach, according to the court in Hess Energy Inc. v. Lightning Oil Co. , No. 01-1582 (4th Cir. Jan. 18, 2002) (reversing summary judgment). In that case, the agreement was a natural-gas supply contract. The customer was acquired by a larger company, after which the larger company took over some of the contract administration responsibilities such as payment of the vendor’s invoices. The vendor, seeking to sell its gas to someone else at a higher price, sent a notice of termination, on grounds that the customer had “assigned” the agreement to its new parent company, in violation of the contract’s assignment-consent provision. The appeals court held that, even if the customer had indeed assigned the contract (a point on which it expressed considerable doubt) without consent, the resulting breach of the agreement was not material, and therefore the vendor did not have the right to terminate the contract.

See also (list is generated automatically) :

• Notebook update: Reverse triangular merger might be an assignment of a contract, requiring consent Just updated the Notebook with a citation to a case in which the Delaware Chancery Court refused to rule out the possibility that a reverse...
• Assignment-consent requirements can cause serious problems in future M&A transactions A lot of contracts provide that Party A must obtain the prior written consent of Party B if it wishes to assign the agreement to a...
• SCOTX rejects implied obligation not to unreasonably withhold consent to assignment of contract In a recent Texas case, two sophisticated parties in the oil and gas busi­ness — let’s call them Alpha and Bravo — were negotiating a contract....
• Ken Adams and the marketplace of ideas I (used to) comment occasionally at Ken Adams’s blog. Recent examples: Here, here, here, here, and here. Ken and I disagree on a number of issues; some...

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Understanding Assignment Clauses in Contracts

Nov 22, 2023 | Contracts

Contracts are an integral part of our daily lives, governing a wide range of transactions from buying goods and services to entering into employment agreements. One often-overlooked yet crucial aspect of contracts is the assignment clause. Understanding assignment clauses is essential for individuals and businesses alike, as they can significantly impact the parties involved. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the intricacies of assignment clauses, their significance, and how they can affect contractual relationships.

Table of Contents

What is an Assignment Clause?

An assignment clause, also known as a delegation clause, is a provision in a contract that dictates whether one party (the assignor) can transfer its rights, obligations, or both to another party (the assignee). In simpler terms, it outlines whether the original parties to the contract can delegate their responsibilities or transfer their benefits to a third party.

Key Components of Assignment Clauses:

Consent Requirement:

Some contracts explicitly state that an assignment can only occur with the consent of all parties involved. This ensures that no party is forced into a relationship with an unknown or potentially undesirable third party.

Prohibition of Assignment:

Conversely, some contracts expressly prohibit assignment altogether. In such cases, the parties to the contract are obligated to fulfill their roles personally, without the option to transfer their obligations or benefits.

Automatic Assignment:

In certain instances, contracts may include automatic assignment clauses. This means that rights and obligations are automatically transferred to a third party without the need for explicit consent.

Notice Requirements:

Assignment clauses often include provisions regarding notice requirements. These stipulate that the assignor must inform the other party or parties involved in the contract about the assignment, providing transparency and an opportunity for objection if necessary.

Significance of Assignment Clauses:

Risk Management:

Assignment clauses play a crucial role in risk management. For the party assigning its rights or obligations, it’s a way to mitigate potential risks and liabilities associated with the contract.

Flexibility:

From a business perspective, assignment clauses offer flexibility. They allow companies to adapt to changing circumstances, such as mergers, acquisitions, or restructuring, without the need to renegotiate every existing contract.

Investment and Financing:

Assignment clauses are of particular importance in financial transactions. Lenders and investors often look for the ability to assign contractual rights as a way to secure their interests.

Contractual Relationships:

Understanding assignment clauses is crucial for maintaining healthy contractual relationships. When parties are aware of the potential for assignment, they can negotiate terms that protect their interests and maintain the intended balance in the contract.

Common Misconceptions:

Assumption of Liabilities:

One common misconception is that by assigning contractual rights, the assignor is automatically relieved of all liabilities. In many cases, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the assignor may still be responsible for fulfilling the contractual obligations.

Unilateral Assignment:

Parties often assume they can unilaterally assign their rights or obligations. However, many contracts require the consent of all involved parties before an assignment can take place.

Case Studies:

To illustrate the practical implications of assignment clauses, let’s examine a couple of hypothetical scenarios:

Real Estate Transactions:

In real estate, assignment clauses are commonly used. For example, if a buyer signs a purchase agreement and later decides to sell the property before closing, the assignment clause dictates whether such a transfer is allowed and under what conditions.

Business Contracts:

In a business context, consider a company that enters into a service agreement with a third party. If the company undergoes a merger, the assignment clause becomes critical in determining whether the rights and obligations under the service agreement can be transferred to the newly formed entity.

Conclusion:

Understanding assignment clauses is fundamental for anyone entering into a contract, whether as an individual or a business entity. These clauses have far-reaching implications, influencing the flexibility, risk management, and overall dynamics of contractual relationships. By carefully considering and negotiating assignment clauses, parties can ensure that their interests are protected and that the contract remains adaptable to the ever-changing landscape of business and personal transactions.

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Assignment of Contract

Jump to section, what is an assignment of contract.

An assignment of contract is a legal term that describes the process that occurs when the original party (assignor) transfers their rights and obligations under their contract to a third party (assignee). When an assignment of contract happens, the original party is relieved of their contractual duties, and their role is replaced by the approved incoming party.

How Does Assignment of Contract Work?

An assignment of contract is simpler than you might think.

The process starts with an existing contract party who wishes to transfer their contractual obligations to a new party.

When this occurs, the existing contract party must first confirm that an assignment of contract is permissible under the legally binding agreement . Some contracts prohibit assignments of contract altogether, and some require the other parties of the agreement to agree to the transfer. However, the general rule is that contracts are freely assignable unless there is an explicit provision that says otherwise.

In other cases, some contracts allow an assignment of contract without any formal notification to other contract parties. If this is the case, once the existing contract party decides to reassign his duties, he must create a “Letter of Assignment ” to notify any other contract signers of the change.

The Letter of Assignment must include details about who is to take over the contractual obligations of the exiting party and when the transfer will take place. If the assignment is valid, the assignor is not required to obtain the consent or signature of the other parties to the original contract for the valid assignment to take place.

Check out this article to learn more about how assigning a contract works.

Contract Assignment Examples

Contract assignments are great tools for contract parties to use when they wish to transfer their commitments to a third party. Here are some examples of contract assignments to help you better understand them:

Anna signs a contract with a local trash company that entitles her to have her trash picked up twice a week. A year later, the trash company transferred her contract to a new trash service provider. This contract assignment effectively makes Anna’s contract now with the new service provider.

Hasina enters a contract with a national phone company for cell phone service. The company goes into bankruptcy and needs to close its doors but decides to transfer all current contracts to another provider who agrees to honor the same rates and level of service. The contract assignment is completed, and Hasina now has a contract with the new phone company as a result.

Here is an article where you can find out more about contract assignments.

Benjamin W.

Assignment of Contract in Real Estate

Assignment of contract is also used in real estate to make money without going the well-known routes of buying and flipping houses. When real estate LLC investors use an assignment of contract, they can make money off properties without ever actually buying them by instead opting to transfer real estate contracts .

This process is called real estate wholesaling.

Real Estate Wholesaling

Real estate wholesaling consists of locating deals on houses that you don’t plan to buy but instead plan to enter a contract to reassign the house to another buyer and pocket the profit.

The process is simple: real estate wholesalers negotiate purchase contracts with sellers. Then, they present these contracts to buyers who pay them an assignment fee for transferring the contract.

This process works because a real estate purchase agreement does not come with the obligation to buy a property. Instead, it sets forth certain purchasing parameters that must be fulfilled by the buyer of the property. In a nutshell, whoever signs the purchase contract has the right to buy the property, but those rights can usually be transferred by means of an assignment of contract.

This means that as long as the buyer who’s involved in the assignment of contract agrees with the purchasing terms, they can legally take over the contract.

But how do real estate wholesalers find these properties?

It is easier than you might think. Here are a few examples of ways that wholesalers find cheap houses to turn a profit on:

• Direct mailers
• Place newspaper ads
• Make posts in online forums
• Social media posts

The key to finding the perfect home for an assignment of contract is to locate sellers that are looking to get rid of their properties quickly. This might be a family who is looking to relocate for a job opportunity or someone who needs to make repairs on a home but can’t afford it. Either way, the quicker the wholesaler can close the deal, the better.

Once a property is located, wholesalers immediately go to work getting the details ironed out about how the sale will work. Transparency is key when it comes to wholesaling. This means that when a wholesaler intends to use an assignment of contract to transfer the rights to another person, they are always upfront about during the preliminary phases of the sale.

In addition to this practice just being good business, it makes sure the process goes as smoothly as possible later down the line. Wholesalers are clear in their intent and make sure buyers know that the contract could be transferred to another buyer before the closing date arrives.

After their offer is accepted and warranties are determined, wholesalers move to complete a title search . Title searches ensure that sellers have the right to enter into a purchase agreement on the property. They do this by searching for any outstanding tax payments, liens , or other roadblocks that could prevent the sale from going through.

Wholesalers also often work with experienced real estate lawyers who ensure that all of the legal paperwork is forthcoming and will stand up in court. Lawyers can also assist in the contract negotiation process if needed but often don’t come in until the final stages.

If the title search comes back clear and the real estate lawyer gives the green light, the wholesaler will immediately move to locate an entity to transfer the rights to buy.

One of the most attractive advantages of real estate wholesaling is that very little money is needed to get started. The process of finding a seller, negotiating a price, and performing a title search is an extremely cheap process that almost anyone can do.

On the other hand, it is not always a positive experience. It can be hard for wholesalers to find sellers who will agree to sell their homes for less than the market value. Even when they do, there is always a chance that the transferred buyer will back out of the sale, which leaves wholesalers obligated to either purchase the property themselves or scramble to find a new person to complete an assignment of contract with.

Learn more about assignment of contract in real estate by checking out this article .

Who Handles Assignment of Contract?

The best person to handle an assignment of contract is an attorney. Since these are detailed legal documents that deal with thousands of dollars, it is never a bad idea to have a professional on your side. If you need help with an assignment of contract or signing a business contract , post a project on ContractsCounsel. There, you can connect with attorneys who know everything there is to know about assignment of contract amendment and can walk you through the whole process.

ContractsCounsel is not a law firm, and this post should not be considered and does not contain legal advice. To ensure the information and advice in this post are correct, sufficient, and appropriate for your situation, please consult a licensed attorney. Also, using or accessing ContractsCounsel's site does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and ContractsCounsel.

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What Is an Assignment Clause?

An assignment clause spells out which contractual obligations, rights, and duties may be transferred from one of the contractual parties to another party. 3 min read updated on October 29, 2020

An assignment clause spells out which contractual obligations, rights, and duties may be transferred from one of the contractual parties to another party. The assignment may be in whole or in part, and the clause also details the conditions under which a party can assign these duties.

U.S. law dictates that most contractual rights can be freely assigned or delegated, unless an agreement states otherwise.

The assignment clause often overlaps with two other clauses:

• Parties in Interest
• Successors and Assigns

These control who assumes contractual rights and obligations.

Legal Background and Freely Assignable Rights

When one party in a contract “assigns” the agreement to someone else, this means the first party — the assignor — transfers its contractual rights and obligations to the second party — the assignee.

In some instances, one party will not want the other contractual party to freely assign its duties. Contracts will then include language that states this.

One exception to the general assignability rule is intellectual property licenses . Legally, a licensor must first give consent before an IP licensee can assign or delegate its rights or obligations, even in the case where the license agreement is silent.

Requirements for Assignment Consent

There are different ways to say the same thing in a contract. Some people prefer lengthier statements, and others like to keep things brief. The following are various ways to make the same points.

• One contractual party isn't allowed to assign its agreement to another person without prior written consent of the other contractual party, except as provided for in the contract. If an assignment is made without this consent, it won't be considered valid.
• One party may not assign any interest or right arising out of this contract — in whole or in part — without prior consent.
• To keep all doubts at bay, no consent is required for an assignment — including collateral, absolute, or other — for a contractual right to payment.

These are the takeaways from these stipulations:

• This type of requirement for an assignment clause can create obstacles for the non-assigning party in corporate reorganizations or future mergers.
• The party that's being asked to consent to an assignment clause requirement may want to negotiate its position. For instance, it may find negotiations helpful in a situation when the assignment involves a substantial sale.

A Party May Not Unreasonably Withhold or Delay Consent

It's not permissible to hold up consent to unreasonable delays.

Other ways to state this include:

• To avoid doubt, a party that suffers damage due to the unreasonable delay or withholding of consent by the other party can treat them as direct damages.
• To avoid doubt, damages that arise to one party from the unreasonable delay or withholding of consent by the other party aren't excluded from remedies.

Even when these provisions aren't in place, the law may still impose a reasonableness requirement. This requirement may not hold a lot of practical value, whether it's implied by the law or contractual. A reasonableness requirement can't guarantee that the non-assigning party will give consent when the assigning party wants it. By the time a case has worked its way through the court system to a decision, the deal that the assigning party was working on could have fallen through or otherwise be negated or moot.

However, this provision for unreasonable withholding should get the non-assigning party to carefully consider taking too much time due to the prospect of being held liable for damages. This can result in costly consequences.

On the other hand, having an unreasonable delay provision could create conflict with the provision concerning material breach of contract.

When you enter into a contract, it's important that you know what your rights and obligations are, as well as the other party's rights and obligations. If you don't want certain outcomes — assignment of duties, for instance — you must usually make it clear in the agreement. Getting help from a legal professional in the contract law field is a good idea when writing up a contract . That way, you increase the chances of covering everything you want covered, from the finer points to the bigger ones.

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Understanding an assignment and assumption agreement

Need to assign your rights and duties under a contract? Learn more about the basics of an assignment and assumption agreement.

Get your assignment of agreement

by   Belle Wong, J.D.

Belle Wong, is a freelance writer specializing in small business, personal finance, banking, and tech/SAAS. She ...

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Updated on: November 24, 2023 · 3 min read

The assignment and assumption agreement

The basics of assignment and assumption, filling in the assignment and assumption agreement.

While every business should try its best to meet its contractual obligations, changes in circumstance can happen that could necessitate transferring your rights and duties under a contract to another party who would be better able to meet those obligations.

If you find yourself in such a situation, and your contract provides for the possibility of assignment, an assignment and assumption agreement can be a good option for preserving your relationship with the party you initially contracted with, while at the same time enabling you to pass on your contractual rights and duties to a third party.

An assignment and assumption agreement is used after a contract is signed, in order to transfer one of the contracting party's rights and obligations to a third party who was not originally a party to the contract. The party making the assignment is called the assignor, while the third party accepting the assignment is known as the assignee.

In order for an assignment and assumption agreement to be valid, the following criteria need to be met:

• The initial contract must provide for the possibility of assignment by one of the initial contracting parties.
• The assignor must agree to assign their rights and duties under the contract to the assignee.
• The assignee must agree to accept, or "assume," those contractual rights and duties.
• The other party to the initial contract must consent to the transfer of rights and obligations to the assignee.

A standard assignment and assumption contract is often a good starting point if you need to enter into an assignment and assumption agreement. However, for more complex situations, such as an assignment and amendment agreement in which several of the initial contract terms will be modified, or where only some, but not all, rights and duties will be assigned, it's a good idea to retain the services of an attorney who can help you draft an agreement that will meet all your needs.

When you're ready to enter into an assignment and assumption agreement, it's a good idea to have a firm grasp of the basics of assignment:

• First, carefully read and understand the assignment and assumption provision in the initial contract. Contracts vary widely in their language on this topic, and each contract will have specific criteria that must be met in order for a valid assignment of rights to take place.
• All parties to the agreement should carefully review the document to make sure they each know what they're agreeing to, and to help ensure that all important terms and conditions have been addressed in the agreement.
• Until the agreement is signed by all the parties involved, the assignor will still be obligated for all responsibilities stated in the initial contract. If you are the assignor, you need to ensure that you continue with business as usual until the assignment and assumption agreement has been properly executed.

Unless you're dealing with a complex assignment situation, working with a template often is a good way to begin drafting an assignment and assumption agreement that will meet your needs. Generally speaking, your agreement should include the following information:

• Identification of the existing agreement, including details such as the date it was signed and the parties involved, and the parties' rights to assign under this initial agreement
• The effective date of the assignment and assumption agreement
• Identification of the party making the assignment (the assignor), and a statement of their desire to assign their rights under the initial contract
• Identification of the third party accepting the assignment (the assignee), and a statement of their acceptance of the assignment
• Identification of the other initial party to the contract, and a statement of their consent to the assignment and assumption agreement
• A section stating that the initial contract is continued; meaning, that, other than the change to the parties involved, all terms and conditions in the original contract stay the same

In addition to these sections that are specific to an assignment and assumption agreement, your contract should also include standard contract language, such as clauses about indemnification, future amendments, and governing law.

Sometimes circumstances change, and as a business owner you may find yourself needing to assign your rights and duties under a contract to another party. A properly drafted assignment and assumption agreement can help you make the transfer smoothly while, at the same time, preserving the cordiality of your initial business relationship under the original contract.

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Don’t Confuse Change of Control and Assignment Terms

• David Tollen
• September 11, 2020

An assignment clause governs whether and when a party can transfer the contract to someone else. Often, it covers what happens in a change of control: whether a party can assign the contract to its buyer if it gets merged into a company or completely bought out. But that doesn’t make it a change of control clause. Change of control terms don’t address assignment. They say whether a party can terminate if the other party goes through a merger or other change of control. And they sometimes address other change of control consequences.

Don’t confuse the two. In a contract about software or other IT, you should think through the issues raised by each. (Also, don’t confuse assignment of contracts with assignment of IP .)

Here’s an assignment clause:

Assignment. Neither party may assign this Agreement or any of its rights or obligations hereunder without the other’s express written consent, except that either party may assign this Agreement to the surviving party in a merger of that party into another entity or in an acquisition of all or substantially all its assets. No assignment becomes effective unless and until the assignee agrees in writing to be bound by all the assigning party’s obligations in this Agreement. Except to the extent forbidden in this Section __, this Agreement will be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties’ respective successors and assigns.

As you can see, that clause says no assignment is allowed, with one exception:

• Assignment to Surviving Entity in M&A: Under the clause above, a party can assign the contract to its buyer — the “surviving entity” — if it gets merged into another company or otherwise bought — in other words, if it ceases to exist through an M&A deal (or becomes an irrelevant shell company).

Consider the following additional issues for assignment clauses:

• Assignment to Affiliates: Can a party assign the contract to its sister companies, parents, and/or subs — a.k.a. its “Affiliates”?
• Assignment to Divested Entities: If a party spins off its key department or other business unit involved in the contract, can it assign the contract to that spun-off company — a.k.a. the “divested entity”? That’s particularly important in technology outsourcing deals and similar contracts. They often leave a customer department highly dependent on the provider’s services. If the customer can’t assign the contract to the divested entity, the spin-off won’t work; the new/divested company won’t be viable.
• Assignment to Competitors: If a party does get any assignment rights, can it assign to the other party’s competitors ? (If so, you’ve got to define “Competitor,” since the word alone can refer to almost any company.)
• All Assignments or None: The contract should usually say something about assignments. Otherwise, the law might allow all assignments. (Check your jurisdiction.) If so, your contracting partner could assign your agreement to someone totally unacceptable. (Most likely, though, your contracting partner would remain liable.) If none of the assignments suggested above fits, forbid all assignments.

Change of Control

Here’s a change of control clause:

Change of Control. If a party undergoes a Change of Control, the other party may terminate this Agreement on 30 days’ written notice. (“Change of Control” means a transaction or series of transactions by which more than 50% of the outstanding shares of the target company or beneficial ownership thereof are acquired within a 1-year period, other than by a person or entity that owned or had beneficial ownership of more than 50% of such outstanding shares before the close of such transactions(s).)

• Termination on Change of Control: A party can terminate if controlling ownership of the other party changes hands.

Change of control and assignment terms actually address opposite ownership changes. If an assignment clause addresses change of control, it says what happens if a party goes through an M&A deal and no longer exists (or becomes a shell company). A change of control clause, on the other hand, matters when the party subject to M&A does still exist . That party just has new owners (shareholders, etc.).

Consider the following additional issues for change of control clauses:

• Smaller Change of Ownership: The clause above defines “Change of Control” as any 50%-plus ownership shift. Does that set the bar too high? Should a 25% change authorize termination by the other party, or even less? In public companies and some private ones, new bosses can take control by acquiring far less than half the stock.
• No Right to Terminate: Should a change of control give any right to terminate, and if so, why? (Keep in mind, all that’s changed is the party’s owners — possibly irrelevant shareholders.)
• Divested Entity Rights: What if, again, a party spins off the department or business until involved in the deal? If that party can’t assign the contract to the divested entity, per the above, can it at least “sublicense” its rights to products or service, if it’s the customer? Or can it subcontract its performance obligations to the divested entity, if it’s the provider? Or maybe the contract should require that the other party sign an identical contract with the divested entity, at least for a short term.

Some of this text comes from the 3rd edition of The Tech Contracts Handbook , available to order (and review) from Amazon  here , or purchase directly from its publisher, the American Bar Association, here.

Want to do tech contracts better, faster, and with more confidence? Check out our training offerings here: https://www.techcontracts.com/training/ . Tech Contracts Academy has  options to fit every need and schedule: Comprehensive Tech Contracts M aster Classes™ (four on-line classes, two hours each), topical webinars (typically about an hour), customized in-house training (for just your team).   David Tollen is the founder of Tech Contracts Academy and our primary trainer. An attorney and also the founder of Sycamore Legal, P.C. , a boutique IT, IP, and privacy law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area, he also serves as an expert witness in litigation about software licenses, cloud computing agreements, and other IT contracts.

© 2020, 2022 by Tech Contracts Academy, LLC. All rights reserved.

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What Is an Assignment Clause?

An assignment clause is a contractual provision that enables one party to transfer their rights, obligations, or interests to another party, allowing for greater flexibility in managing contractual relationships. This clause can be unrestricted, restricted, or take the form of novation, pro-assignment, anti-assignment, or hybrid clauses. By including an assignment clause, parties can adapt to changing circumstances and business needs. As we explore the intricacies of assignment clauses, you'll discover how they can impact contract obligations and dispute resolution mechanisms, and how they can be used to mitigate risks and optimize contractual agreements.

Table of Contents

Definition of an Assignment Clause

An assignment clause is a provision in a contract that allows one party to transfer its rights, obligations, or interests to another party, often with or without the consent of the other contracting party. This clause is a vital aspect of contract flexibility, enabling parties to adapt to changing circumstances and business needs. In particular, an assignment clause permits the transfer of contractual rights and obligations, allowing parties to reassign their interests to a third party.

The legal language used in an assignment clause is vital, as it determines the scope and limitations of the transfer. The clause must be drafted with precision to avoid ambiguity and reflect the parties' intentions accurately. A well-crafted assignment clause provides clarity on the terms of the transfer, including the extent of the rights and obligations being assigned, the identity of the assignee, and any necessary consents or notifications. By incorporating an assignment clause into a contract, parties can maintain contract flexibility while minimizing potential disputes and facilitating a smoother transfer of interests.

Types of Assignment Clauses

Assignment clauses can be categorized into various types based on the degree of freedom granted to the assigning party, including unrestricted, restricted, and novation assignments. These variations are crucial in understanding the nuances of assignment clauses and their applications in different contractual agreements.

The type of assignment clause used can significantly impact the rights and obligations of parties involved. For instance:

• Unrestricted assignments allow the assignor to transfer their rights and obligations without restrictions.
• Restricted assignments limit the assignor's ability to transfer their rights and obligations, often requiring consent from the other party.
• Novation assignments involve the substitution of a new party, replacing the original party, with the consent of all parties involved.
• Pro-assignment clauses explicitly permit assignment, while anti-assignment clauses prohibit or restrict assignment.
• Hybrid clauses combine elements of different types, offering a tailored approach to assignment.

Understanding these clause variations is essential when drafting assignment templates and negotiating contractual agreements. By recognizing the differences between these types, parties can better navigate the complexities of assignment clauses and ensure their rights and obligations are protected.

When Is Assignment Allowed

Unless explicitly prohibited by the contract or applicable law, assignment is generally allowed when the parties have provided their consent, either explicitly through a contractual provision or implicitly through their actions. This consent can be demonstrated through various means, including contractual language, prior agreements, or even implied consent through the parties' behavior.

In cases where assignment is allowed, it is vital to appreciate the legal nuances and contract flexibility. The parties must verify that the assignment does not violate any contractual provisions or applicable laws. By understanding the circumstances under which assignment is permitted, parties can navigate complex contractual relationships with confidence.

Effects on Contract Obligations

When a contract is assigned, the obligations and rights of the original parties are transferred to the assignee, potentially altering the dynamics of the contractual relationship. This transfer can substantially impact the contract's overall framework, as the assignee assumes the responsibilities and benefits of the original party.

The effects of assignment on contract obligations can be far-reaching. Some key implications include:

• Obligation Shift : The assignee takes on the original party's contractual duties, freeing the assignor from liability.
• Contract Flexibility : Assignment allows for the transfer of rights and obligations, enabling greater flexibility in contract management.
• Novation : The assignment may lead to the creation of a new contract, replacing the original agreement.
• Third-Party Rights : The assignment may affect the rights of third-party beneficiaries, who may need to be notified or consent to the transfer.
• Dispute Resolution : The assignment can impact the resolution of disputes, as the assignee may need to assume the original party's position in any ongoing or future disputes.

Assignment Without Consent

In the absence of consent from the non-assigning party, an assignment can still be valid, although it may lead to legal disputes and complications. This scenario can arise when a party assigns their contractual rights or obligations to a third party without obtaining the required consent. In such cases, the assignment may be deemed valid, but it can also give rise to Contract Risks and Business Liabilities. The non-assigning party may dispute the validity of the assignment, leading to potential litigation and uncertainty.

The assignment without consent can also lead to a breach of contract, causing damages or penalties. Additionally, the assignee may not assume the obligations of the original party, leaving the non-assigning party with unresolved claims. It is crucial for businesses to carefully consider the implications of assignment without consent and take necessary precautions to mitigate potential risks. This includes drafting thorough assignment clauses, obtaining necessary consents, and verifying that all parties are aware of their rights and obligations. By doing so, businesses can minimize the risk of Contract Risks and Business Liabilities associated with assignment without consent.

Notice and Disclosure Requirements

Assignment clauses often stipulate specific notice and disclosure requirements that must be fulfilled by the assigning party to validate a valid and enforceable assignment. These requirements verify that all parties involved are aware of the assignment and its implications, thereby minimizing potential disputes and compliance risks.

Notice and disclosure requirements typically involve providing written notice to the non-assigning party, specifying the terms of the assignment, and disclosing relevant information about the assignee. This transparency is vital to maintain a valid assignment, as it enables the non-assigning party to assess the assignee's credentials and negotiate any necessary adjustments.

Key aspects of notice and disclosure requirements include:

• Specifying the effective date of the assignment
• Providing detailed information about the assignee
• Disclosing the terms and conditions of the assignment
• Confirming compliance with the regulatory framework governing the assignment
• Obtaining written acknowledgment from the non-assigning party

Dispute Resolution Mechanisms

Dispute Resolution Mechanisms are vital components of an Assignment Clause, as they provide a framework for resolving conflicts that may arise during the assignment process. Effective dispute resolution mechanisms guarantee that disputes are addressed efficiently and fairly, minimizing delays and potential losses. This section will explore the various arbitration methods, dispute resolution options, and mediation procedures used to resolve disputes arising from assignment agreements.

Arbitration Methods Available

Various arbitration methods are available to resolve assignment-related disputes, including ad hoc arbitration, institutional arbitration, and online dispute resolution. These methods provide a structured process for resolving disagreements, ensuring that disputes are addressed efficiently and effectively.

• Ad hoc arbitration: a flexible and informal process where parties appoint an arbitrator to resolve the dispute
• Institutional arbitration: conducted through established institutions, such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) or the American Arbitration Association (AAA)
• Online dispute resolution: utilizes online platforms to facilitate the arbitration process, often with faster and more cost-effective results
• Fast Track arbitration: an expedited process for resolving disputes, typically with a shorter timeframe and limited documentation
• Online Platforms: provide virtual environments for arbitration, enabling parties to participate remotely and increasing accessibility

These arbitration methods offer a range of options for resolving assignment-related disputes, allowing parties to choose the approach that best suits their needs. By understanding the available arbitration methods, parties can make informed decisions about dispute resolution and ensure that their assignment agreements are effectively managed.

Dispute Resolution Options

Beyond arbitration methods, parties to an assignment agreement may also opt for other dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve conflicts, including negotiation, mediation, and litigation. These alternatives can be employed individually or in combination to facilitate conflict avoidance and efficient resolution of disputes. Negotiation, for instance, involves direct communication between parties to reach a mutually acceptable agreement. Effective negotiation strategies can help prevent conflicts from escalating, thereby reducing the need for more formal dispute resolution mechanisms. Conflict avoidance is also vital in preventing disputes from arising in the first place. By adopting proactive conflict avoidance measures, parties can minimize the risk of disputes and guarantee a smoother execution of the assignment agreement. Ultimately, the choice of dispute resolution mechanism will depend on the specific circumstances of the assignment and the preferences of the parties involved. By understanding the various dispute resolution options available, parties can make informed decisions and develop effective strategies for resolving conflicts efficiently and effectively.

Mediation Procedures Used

In mediation procedures, a neutral third-party mediator facilitates communication between the parties to help them reach a mutually acceptable agreement, often through a combination of joint and separate meetings. This approach enables parties to engage in constructive dialogue, identify common interests, and explore creative solutions. Mediation strategies are employed to promote open communication, build trust, and foster a collaborative environment.

Effective mediation procedures involve:

• Identifying and clarifying issues in dispute
• Encouraging active listening and empathy
• Fostering creative options for mutual gain
• Evaluating and analyzing potential solutions
• Drafting and refining a mutually acceptable agreement

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an assignment clause be added to an existing contract?.

"A post-execution modification, an assignment clause can be added to an existing contract via contract amendments, especially in legacy agreements, provided all parties consent and the alteration is properly documented and executed."

Do All Contracts Require an Assignment Clause?

Not all contracts require an assignment clause, as it depends on the specific Contract Fundamentals and Legal Requirements of the agreement, such as the type of contract, jurisdiction, and parties involved.

Can an Assignment Clause Be Used for Employment Contracts?

In employment contracts, an assignment clause can be employed to balance employee protection with contract flexibility, allowing for adjustments to job responsibilities or work arrangements while maintaining workforce adaptability and business continuity.

Is an Assignment Clause the Same as a Novation Clause?

Distinct from novation clauses, assignment clauses facilitate the transfer of contractual rights and obligations, avoiding contract ambiguity; however, nuances in legal drafting can blur the lines between these clauses, necessitating precise language to guarantee clarity.

Can an Assignment Clause Be Overridden by a Court?

In exceptional circumstances, a court may override an assignment clause through judicial review, balancing contractual freedom with public policy considerations, but this is rare and typically limited to cases involving fraud, illegality, or unconscionability.

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When Is An "Assignment" Clause Worth Fighting For?

Contributor.

Q. My small business is negotiating with a vendor who has asked to remove our contract’s “assignment” clause entirely. Is it worth the time to argue over whether to include an assignment clause?

A.  First, it’s important to understand the purpose of the assignment clause. “Assignment” occurs when a party transfers its rights and obligations under a contract to another party. Generally, unless the parties have agreed otherwise, each can assign its rights and obligations freely.

Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, a set of laws governing the sale of goods that has been adopted by 49 states, including New Hampshire, provides that a party can freely assign its rights and obligations to another unless such assignment would materially change the duties of the other party, burden the other party, or decrease the other party’s chances of receiving performance under the contract.

If your vendor eliminates the assignment clause and no agreement on the topic is provided in the contract, your vendor will be free to transfer its obligations to another person or company without giving you notice or obtaining your approval.

Parties do have the ability, however, to mutually decide against the free assignability of a contract and this is often accomplished through an assignment clause. An assignment clause spells out which, if any, of a party’s obligations and rights under a contract are able to be assigned, or transferred, to another party. Free assignability and no assignability are not the only options, and you and your vendor can negotiate terms for assignment that are amenable to both of you.

For example, some clauses allow for assignment with the other party’s consent, meaning, the vendor would have to obtain your approval of the assignee prior to assigning any of its rights or obligations under the contract. Other times, assignment clauses allow for free assignment only to certain persons or entities, such as the vendor’s subsidiaries and affiliates, provided that the vendor gives you notice of such permitted assignment. Another option is to allow for assignment by the vendor provided that it guaranties the assignee’s performance.

Consider potential situations in which the vendor may want to assign the contract and determine whether it’s important to you to have control over assignment in each instance.

Consider discussing situations in which it may be important for the vendor to have freedom of assignment and, instead of removing the provision all together, specify those situations in which assignment is permitted, list those rights or obligations that are assignable, and consider whether, when assignment is permitted, notice, consent or a guaranty will be required.

Published in the Union Leader (2/25/2019)

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Corporate/Commercial Law

United states.

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Out-law / your daily need-to-know.

Out-Law Guide 4 min. read

Assignment and novation

19 Aug 2011, 4:40 pm

Assignment involves the transfer of an interest or benefit from one person to another. However the 'burden', or obligations, under a contract cannot be transferred.

Assignment in construction contracts

As noted above only the benefits of a contract can be assigned - not the burden. In the context of a building contract:

• the employer may assign its right to have the works constructed, and its right to sue the contractor in the event that the works are defective – but not its obligation to pay for the works;
• the contractor may assign its right to payment of the contract sum - but not its obligation to construct the works in accordance with the building contract or its obligation to meet any valid claims, for example for defects.

After assignment, the assignee is entitled to the benefit of the contract and to bring proceedings against the other contracting party to enforce its rights. The assignor still owes obligations to the other contracting party, and will remain liable to perform any part of the contract that still has to be fulfilled since the burden cannot be assigned. In practice, what usually happens is that the assignee takes over the performance of the contract with effect from assignment and the assignor will generally ask to be indemnified against any breach or failure to perform by the assignee.  The assignor will remain liable for any past liabilities incurred before the assignment.

In construction contracts, the issue of assignment often arises in looking at whether collateral warranties granted to parties outside of the main construction contract can be assigned.

Funders may require the developer to assign contractual rights against the contractor and the design team as security to the funder, as well as the benefit of performance bonds and parent company guarantees. The developer may assign such rights to the purchaser either during or after completion of the construction phase.

Contractual assignment provisions

Many contracts exclude or qualify the right to assignment, and the courts have confirmed that a clause which provides that a party to a contract may not assign the benefit of that contract without the consent of the other party is legally effective and will extend to all rights and benefits arising under the contract, including the right to any remedies. Other common qualifications on the right to assign include:

• a restriction on assignment without the consent of the other party, whether or not such consent is not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed;
• only one of the parties may assign;
• only certain rights may be assigned – for example, warranties and indemnities may be excluded;
• a limit on the number of assignments - as is almost always the case in respect of collateral warranties;
• a right to assign only to a named assignee or class of assignee.

Note that in some agreements where there is a prohibition on assignment, it is sometimes possible to find the reservation of specific rights to create a trust or establish security over the subject matter of the agreement instead.

Legal and equitable assignment

The Law of Property Act creates the ability to legally assign a debt or any other chose in action where the debtor, trustee or other relevant person is notified in writing. If the assignment complied with the formalities in the Act it is a legal assignment, otherwise it will be an equitable assignment.

Some transfers can only take effect as an equitable assignment, for example:

• an oral assignment;
• an assignment by way of charge;
• an assignment of only part of the chosen in action;
• an assignment of which notice has not been given to the debtor;
• an agreement to assign.

If the assignment is equitable rather than legal, the assignor cannot enforce the assigned property in its own name and to do so must join the assignee in any action. This is designed to protect the debtor from later proceedings brought by the assignor or another assignee from enforcing the action without notice of the earlier assignment.

Security assignments

Using assignment as a way of taking security requires special care, as follows:

• if the assignment is by way of charge, the assignor retains the right to sue for any loss it suffers caused by a breach of the other contract party;
• if there is an outright assignment coupled with an entitlement to a re-assignment back once the secured obligation has been performed, it is an assignment by way of legal mortgage.

Please see our separate Out-Law guide for more information on types of security.

Restrictions on assignment

There are restrictions on the assignment of certain types of interest on public policy grounds, as follows:

• certain personal contracts – for example, a contract for the employment of a personal servant or for the benefit of a motor insurance policy cannot be assigned;
• a bare cause of action or 'right to sue' where the assignee has no commercial interest in the subject matter of the underlying transaction cannot be assigned;
• certain rights conferred by statute – for example, a liquidator's powers to bring wrongful trading proceedings against a director – cannot be assigned;
• an assignment of a contract may not necessarily transfer the benefit of an arbitration agreement contained in the contract;
• the assignment of certain rights is regulated – for example, the assignment of company shares or copyright.

If you want to transfer the burden of a contract as well as the benefits under it, you have to novate. Like assignment, novation transfers the benefits under a contract but unlike assignment, novation transfers the burden under a contract as well.

In a novation the original contract is extinguished and is replaced by a new one in which a third party takes up rights and obligations which duplicate those of one of the original parties to the contract. Novation does not cancel past rights and obligations under the original contract, although the parties can agree to novate these as well.

Novation is only possible with the consent of the original contracting parties as well as the new party. Consideration (the 'price' paid, whether financial or otherwise, by the new party in return for the contract being novated to it) must be provided for this new contract unless the novation is documented in a deed signed by all three parties.

• Construction Contracts
• Construction
• Government and public sector
• Real Estate
• Technology, Science & Industry
• United Kingdom

Contact an adviser

Graham Alty

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