1. FACT. Everyone knows today that there is a potential problem.

2. FACT. Everyone will find out the extent of the problem on the 1st January 2000 - at the latest. There will be no extension of time, stay of execution or negotiation.

3. Everyone adversely affected will be looking to blame someone else and recoup their loss.

3.1 Tenants will want to sue Landlords for failure to provide services.

3.2 Businesses will wish to sue Suppliers because programmes will not work.

3.3 Injured persons will wish to sue the owners/operators of equipment which suddenly stop working

4. Shareholders will blame Company Directors for failing to investigate the problem, while there was time.

5. If a Company goes into liquidation as a result of its problems, the Liquidator and Creditors will be arguing breach of fiduciary duty against the Company Director.

6. Auditors will require Directors to report on the steps being taken to avoid problems.

7. In 1999, it is likely that Auditors will require Directors to confirm that those steps have been taken.

8. Clearly no Director wants his company accounts to be qualified nor will he wish to misrepresent the situation.

9. The Law will not provide a technical solution to the problem but will decide who should bear the burden in any particular situation

10. Every Director will wish to demonstrate that he did indeed take every precaution possible.

11. Many companies are spending very large sums of money to check out the situation and document how they have proceeded.

12. Devise a plan to check everything thoroughly, document all the checks and where possible, get reputable substantial organisations to certificate the clearance.

13. Check original Supply Contracts, Specifications and "Invitation to Tender" documentation to see if there is any express reference to the problem.

14. Consider whether any particular contract might have an implied term that software is Year 2000 compliant.

15. Consider now (not after the event) whether the Supplier has been negligent and failing in its "Duty of Care" to you.

16. Consider whether any exclusions of liability are reasonable and valid.

17. The Limitation period for breach of contract is six years - by 2001 it may be too late to sue on a 1994 contract.

18. Negligence claims can be time barred within three years from when the damage was reasonably discoverable. Defendants will argue that, with all the Press Coverage, the damage should have been discovered by now.

19. Document all "patches" and "work arounds" that you have considered, even though you reject them for whatever reason. It will all go to show how seriously you were taking the situation.