A highly readable book

Abstract

Let me start off by stating that this is a very good book. In fact, I think it is fair to say that if I had had the opportunity to read this book and dip into the various sections as and when required when I had started my career in outsourcing 10 or so years ago, life would have been considerable easier for a young(ish) lawyer trying to work out, for example, what the supplier selection process entailed and what concepts such as ‘most favoured pricing’, ‘benchmarking’, and ‘gain share’ entailed in the context of an outsourcing relationship. I have never sat in a negotiation across the table from (or indeed met) George Kimball, but it is clear to any reader of Outsourcing Agreements – A Practical Guide (which runs to 321 pages of chapters on topics ranging from a description of the players in an outsourcing and their roles to IP and compliance issues, with a further 200 or so pages on forms) that he knows what he is writing about, has a wealth of first-hand experience, and can communicate all of it in a most accessible way. Kimball writes in a readable and clear style, does not patronize his readers but explains topics clearly and thoroughly, and uses a manner of writing which encourages a reader to think further about the topics discussed and the issues involved. In fact, the only criticism which I have of the book is that, at times, I found the length of the paragraphs and the lack of spacing between paragraphs made for quite difficult reading, and the book would (in my opinion) have benefitted from shorter, less ‘dense’ paragraphs and a more judicious/reader-friendly use of spacing and sub-headings; in short, nothing that cannot be remedied by working on the typesetting and page layout/format.