Record the final deal clearly with a settlement deed

A settlement deed turns an in-principle commercial deal into a formal written record that both sides can sign. That matters because verbal discussions, email chains or informal summaries often leave room for argument later about what was agreed, when payment is due, whether claims are released, or what can still be said publicly. A properly prepared deed can also deal with practical points that are easy to miss, such as confidentiality, return of property, IP ownership, ongoing services, and what happens if one party does not follow through.

Most settlement deeds cover the identity of the parties, the background to the dispute, the settlement amount or other agreed steps, payment timing, releases of claims, confidentiality, liability wording, and what happens after signing. Depending on the dispute, the deed may also need clauses about intellectual property, non-disparagement, withdrawal of allegations, return of business materials, service levels during a transition period, or termination of an existing arrangement. The right content depends on what is actually being settled and whether any obligations continue after the deed is signed.

The drafting usually depends on the underlying dispute and the commercial arrangement sitting behind it. Useful information includes who the parties are, what claims or issues have arisen, whether there is already a contract in place, the exact settlement terms agreed, and whether anything needs to continue after settlement. For example, if there is staged payment, ongoing service delivery, shared IP, or a handover period, the deed may need more detailed wording. If the other side has already circulated a draft, we can review that against your instructions and flag problem areas.

A precedent can be a starting reference, but tailored drafting is usually safer where the document affects customers, staff, suppliers or regulators. However, settlement deeds are one of those documents where missing one clause can create a fresh argument after everyone thought the matter was over. Generic forms may not deal properly with mutual versus one-way releases, confidentiality carve-outs, payment default consequences, existing contract termination, or IP and service obligations that survive settlement. A lawyer review is especially useful where the dispute involves more than a simple one-off payment, because the wording needs to match the actual deal rather than a broad template assumption.

Timing depends on whether we are drafting from scratch or reviewing a deed prepared by someone else, and on how settled the commercial terms already are. In straightforward matters, the work can move quickly once we have the agreed terms and any existing documents. If key points are still being negotiated, the timeline often turns on how fast those points are clarified. After engagement, the next step is for you to provide the draft deed or a summary of the agreed outcome, along with any relevant contract, correspondence or term sheet.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Settlement Deed service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.