I recently saw in a contract the following provision specifying drafting conventions: Reference to any English legal term shall, in respect of any jurisdiction other …
Here’s what Garner’s Modern American Usage has to say about generally: generally has three basic meanings: (1) “disregarding insignificant exceptions” <the quality of the acting …
The problem with the word usually isn’t just that it’s vague. Instead, it’s that it exhibits the free-floating vagueness that we previously encountered in substantially …
For lawyers unwilling or unable to overhaul their traditional contract language, the excuse of choice is that traditional language has been “tested”—if you meddle with …
The serial comma is the comma used immediately before the and or or preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. I wrote about the serial …
Here’s how Wikipedia describes “learned helplessness”: Learned helplessness is the condition of a human or animal that has learned to behave helplessly, failing to respond even …
In my experience, people will turn out for continuing-legal-education sessions on contract drafting. For example, at those annual meetings of the Association of Corporate Counsel …
A site called LawInsider.com has launched what it describes as a searchable database consisting of every contract on the SEC’s EDGAR system—over 250,000 contracts. And …
Three LinkedIn groups feature discussions related to contract drafting. “Contract & Commercial Management” caters primarily to contract-management professionals; you have to ask to join. I …
In this 2009 post I wrote about the respective roles of lawyers and contract-management personnel in the contract process. That’s what led a reader to send …
In this recent post I invited readers to redraft a sentence that I had plucked, at random, from EDGAR. And you responded enthusiastically. (I’ve shelved …
The other day @bradykrissesq posed the following question on Twitter: What is the legal significance of a contract requirement to “do all things”? — Brady …
An article in Corporate Counsel by a BigLaw partner and associate (copy here) considers governing-law provisions. It suggests that using the following provision would increase …
This morning I encountered the following sentence on EDGAR: Therefore, the obligations of the Sellers under this Agreement, including, without limitation, the Sellers’ obligation to …
You’re an in-house lawyer who consults A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. In fact, it’s widely used in your department—your company does its best to …
I’ve scheduled two new Canada “Drafting Clearer Contracts” public seminars for Osgoode Professional Development: Calgary, October 24, 2013 Toronto, November 6, 2013 I’ll put additional …
I’ve updated this site’s page on my in-house seminars to note that I’m now offering a one-hour presentation entitled “The Bad (and Good) News About Contract …
I noted with interest Neal Goldfarb’s recent post on LAWnLinguistics about an amicus brief that he filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. His brief concerns …
I’ve just left Hamburg after a three-day visit. Some thoughts: I held public seminars on Monday and Tuesday at the offices of ECE Projektmanagement, the …
I was recently reminded of Exemplify, “a new breed of research tool for determining market standard language and terms in transactional law practice.” The best …
I recently saw the following in a book: The words “exclusion” and “disclaimer” are sometimes used interchangeably in warranty provisions, but an important legal distinction …
In yesterday’s post I wrote about how the Appellate Court of Illinois saw value in useless contract language, namely the traditional recital of consideration and “successors …
In addition to Ken’s posts from February 2013, this blog contains Ken’s posts from The Koncise Drafter (from December 2010 to February 2013) and from the AdamsDrafting blog (from May 2006 to December 2010).
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