Check produce payment terms against the PACA trust time limit
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Extract the payment terms, whether they were agreed in writing before the transaction, the acceptance date, and the date payment was due. Do not calculate a trust deadline or draft the terms.
- What the lawyer must review
- The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service trust page states that payment terms other than PACA prompt payment terms, which are usually 10 days, must be agreed by the parties in writing before the transaction. To qualify for trust protection, payment terms cannot exceed 30 days from acceptance of the product. The lawyer checks the writing, the acceptance date, and the due date against those two limits. The licensing page is the companion source: buyers and sellers must meet contract specifications, pay promptly, and maintain trust assets, or face possible suspension or revocation of the license. ABA Model Rules 1.1 and 5.3 and Formal Opinion 512 leave the check with the lawyer.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Potential support includes extracting and organising information and preparing preliminary structure or wording. Confirm the tool’s capability and permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Trace every relied-on figure to its source, confirm dates and assumptions, and independently recalculate totals or derived amounts.
- Calculate operative dates independently from the current rule and actual triggering event. Check exceptions and record the verified deadline.
- Review operative clauses in the complete document, including definitions, cross-references, schedules and inconsistencies with the instructions.
- Confirm the appropriate instructions, permissions and cultural context with the relevant people before using information or communicating the result.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.