Against the backdrop of escalating tensions arising from the closure of the Gulf of Hormuz, contractual risk is no longer hypothetical but immediate. The resulting disruption is not confined to geopolitics or energy markets, it is being felt across entire supply chains, affecting not just fuel but a wide range of goods and services and driving up costs at every stage. These pressures are exposing the limits of force majeure clauses drafted for past crises, as parties confront cascading delays, indirect sanctions and pricing shocks that fall outside traditional definitions. Examine how those real-world impacts intersect with force majeure and frustration and what lawyers need to understand when contracts written for one risk environment are tested by another.
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
9.30am to 10.30am Force Majeure, Frustration and Dealing with the Contracts We Wrote for the Last Crisis
Gain insights and practical guidance that you can immediately use to advise your current clients.
Most commercial contracts in circulation today were drafted for a different decade's problems. COVID-19 still sits inside force majeure definitions signed this month. The lists catch pandemics, terrorism and nuclear contamination, and miss the supply chain distortion, energy shocks and indirect sanctions clients are actually walking in with today.
When the clause does not cover what has gone wrong, the common-law backstop is narrower than most lawyers remember.
Mark will draw on a working archive of agreements and the recent Australian authorities from Codelfa to Cao v ISPT to focus on:
- What current force majeure clauses actually do
- Where frustration sits behind them
- How the two interact in ways that often surprise the party relying on it
Presented by Mark Lazarus, Principal, Lazarus Legal
About Your Presenter:
Mark Lazarus has been admitted as a solicitor in NSW and England and Wales, and called to the NSW Bar. He has had more than 20 years of experience spanning private practice, the bar, and in-house legal director roles across multiple jurisdictions. Mark spent close to a decade in senior in-house roles at Monster Energy, most recently as Legal Director with responsibility across EMEA, APAC and the United States. His in-house work covered distribution and supply across more than forty countries, sponsorship and IP, regulatory matters and the contractual fallout from large-scale disruption events including the pandemic, the closure of major shipping routes and successive waves of sanctions.
At Lazarus Legal, Mark advises Australian and international businesses on commercial contracts, distribution and supply, trade marks and IP, and commercial disputes. He has a particular interest in the practical operation of force majeure, frustration and hardship in contracts written for one risk environment and asked to perform in another.
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD unit in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Presenters
Mark Lazarus, Principal, Lazarus LegalMark is the Principal of Lazarus Legal, a commercial law firm in Bondi Junction, Sydney. He is dual-qualified in Australia and in England and Wales. Before returning to private practice, Mark spent close to a decade in senior in-house roles at Monster Energy, most recently as Legal Director with responsibility across EMEA, APAC and the United States. His in-house work covered distribution and supply across more than forty countries, sponsorship and IP, regulatory matters, and the contractual fallout from large-scale disruption events including the pandemic, the closure of major shipping routes, and successive waves of sanctions. At Lazarus Legal, Mark advises Australian and international businesses on commercial contracts, distribution and supply, trade marks and IP, and commercial disputes. He has a particular interest in the practical operation of force majeure, frustration and hardship in contracts written for one risk environment and asked to perform in another.
