Obligations to endeavour to achieve some object are commonly agreed in commercial contracts where the relevant party is not willing to take on an absolute obligation to that effect.

Typical clauses may require the use of "best endeavours", "reasonable endeavours" or "all reasonable endeavours", but it is not always clear what these terms require in practice.

In this fifth of our updated and relaunched series of contract disputes practical guides, James Farrell, Emma Schaafsma and Gavin Williams consider how the typical clauses differ from one another and what they are likely to require in practice, and provide some practical tips for commercial parties.

You can click here to download the PDF guide or here to access our webinar exploring these issues.

We will be publishing further editions of the updated series of contract disputes practical guides in the coming months. In the meantime, the first four editions in our relaunched series, and the remaining editions from the original series, can be accessed from the home page for our contract disputes series (which is also linked under "our guides" in the top menu).

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.