Comments on: “Hereby Grants” or “Hereby Grants To”?

By: Greg Dickenson

Greg Dickenson — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:28:58 +0000

I hate to beat a dead horse, but why isn’t “grants” considered to be the language of performance? It seems to me that “hereby” and “grants” in the first example both serve the same function as “gave” does in the second example.

By: Ken Adams

Ken Adams — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:05:49 +0000

Denis: In this context, hereby isn’t archaic. Instead, it has long served to signal language of performance. Sure, it’s unlikely that omitting it would land anyone in court, but it would increase the likelihood of momentary miscues as readers parse the intended meaning. Ken

By: Denis Quinlan

Denis Quinlan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:05:13 +0000

Is the archaic and jargony “hereby” really necessary? If the title of the document is “License Agreement,” isn’t it obvious that the license is being granted by that document?

By: Brent Woody

Brent Woody — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:16:34 +0000

Just a note to thank you for this resource. My wife sees me reading your style manual as though it’s a Grisham novel and thinks I’m nuts. Convoluted contract language has always aggravated me but conventions, traditions and legends (and some bosses) made me reluctant to leave out language and terms that seemed superfluous, but purportedly made things clearer and more certain. Now, as a solo practitioner, I am free to modify my approach to drafting and your advice is invaluable.