To coin a phrase, We hold these truths to be self-evident: It’s preferable to draft contracts consistent with a set of guidelines for contract language, as opposed to relying on conventional wisdom, improvising, or simply copying. That’s why I wrote MSCD. It’s the only such set of guidelines, and with each new edition it becomes more entrenched. I’d be surprised … Read More
The fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting is now in production. That side of my work will certainly continue, but the bulk of it is done. So even though you won’t see the fourth edition for another four months, I’m already focusing on what comes next. Allow me to go out on a limb: To make … Read More
At my recent “Drafting Clearer Contracts” seminar in Portland, Oregon, I met David Hill. Dave teaches contract drafting at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, so we chatted about what he does. By email, he followed up with some thoughts about how he uses A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting as part of his course: I designed … Read More
[Go here for a copy of Reviewing Business Contracts: What to Look For and How to Look for It, ACC Docket (20 Dec. 2021) (with Michael F. Fleming)] Recently I received the following email: I have been following your blog for a long time and your insights are really helpful for young lawyers. I am a young lawyer from India … Read More
Go here for a clip run on WABE 90.1 FM, the Atlanta public radio station, and the related article. They’re about lines 37 and 38 of Georgia’s HB 280, a bill that would allow guns on campus at Georgia’s public colleges and universities. You hear me for a big ten seconds. Here’s the language at issue: Not apply to faculty, staff, … Read More
[Update 30 April 2017: In an email exchange with Dan Rubins, CEO of Legal Robot, I learned that the New York Times article doesn’t reflect at all how Legal Robot handles shall. I’m OK with having written my post based on what was in the article, but the shall part was what prompted me to write the post in first … Read More
Go here for an article I posted on LinkedIn today, Be Afraid of Contract Interpretation. Every so often I post a particularly general piece on LinkedIn instead of on this blog, with the notion that something on LinkedIn might catch the attention of people who would never have heard of me otherwise. What I have to say on LinkedIn will generally … Read More
Here are two concluding clauses: The authorized signatures for MICHIGAN and COMPANY below signify their acceptance of the terms of this AGREEMENT. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have indicated their acceptance of the terms of this Agreement by their signatures below on the dates indicated. In both these concluding clauses, the parties say they’re accepting the terms of the contract. … Read More
I just sent my minder at the American Bar Association the manuscript for the fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. All I can say is EXPLETIVE DELETED. It took about four months to weave a mass of disparate writings into the text of the third edition, then sand and polish the whole so the seams don’t … Read More
On 23 October I’ll be in Toronto to do a “Drafting Clearer Contracts” seminar for Osgoode Professional Development. I’ll follow that on 24 October with my “advanced” seminar entitled “An Intensive Program in the Categories of Contract Language.” To keep it action-packed, it will be shorter than previous versions of this seminar, running from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Go … Read More
