Contract Glossary

Term

Definition

The term is how long your contract lasts, start date to end date. A 12-month term starting January 1 means you're committed until December 31. But some obligations (like confidentiality and non-competes) often survive long after the term expires.

In Practice

Your consulting agreement has a 6-month term with auto-renewal for successive 6-month periods. The confidentiality obligation survives for 3 years after termination. The non-solicitation clause survives for 18 months. So even after the 6-month term ends, you're still bound by those surviving provisions. The 'term' tells you when the active work ends; the 'survival' clauses tell you when your obligations actually end.