Here are six words you'd better avoid in your proposals.
1. Best Efforts. Courts have interpreted best efforts to impose a very strict legal obligation, one that goes well beyond a companys normal duty to a client.
Alternative: Reasonable efforts.
2. Ensure. This word may create a binding legal obligation that a client can enforce in court. This word can be particularly dangerous in a T&M project, since it may imply that you are committing to a fixed-price/fixed-time obligation.
Alternatives: Will assist in or will use reasonable efforts to.
3. Guarantee. Using this word essentially amounts to a warranty, and you could be held accountable for it.
Alternative: See No. 2.
4. Partner/Partnership. The word partnership is a legal term meaning, among other things, a relationship in which two parties are liable for each others acts, omissions and debts.
Alternatives: Ally, alliance, or relationship.
5. Will meet your needs/requirements. A clients requirements change during the course of a project. For this reason, you should avoid promising that you will meet the clients needs. Courts have held companies liable based on just such promises.
Alternative: Our approach addresses your requirements. Then go on to show how it does.
And Finally 6. Joint/Jointly. These terms may legally imply that a deliverable is a joint work under law; meaning ownership is shared by both parties.
Alternative: Cooperative effort, or cooperatively.