Party

A party is anyone bound by a contract: the company selling, the company buying, the individual signing an NDA, the vendor delivering a service. A contract needs at least two parties, and each one takes on the rights and duties the document spells out.

Parties are usually named in the opening paragraph and given a short label (for example, "Popform, LLC (Company)") so the rest of the document can refer to them cleanly. Getting the legal name of each party exactly right matters: the entity named in the contract is the entity on the hook for it. See also counterparty and signatory.