I used to use King Arthur organic all-purpose flour for all my baking. Now I use King Arthur only for bread and pizza; for cakes and pastries, I’ve switched to Gold Medal all-purpose flour. Why? Because Stella Parks (@BraveTart) recommends Gold Medal. When it comes to baking sweet things, what @BraveTart recommends, I do, with a salute and a smile on my face.
That’s because Stella is a baking expert, and I’m not. I wouldn’t dream of attempting to replicate the years of research and experimentation that have made her an expert. Instead, I happily rely on Stella’s expertise, although I don’t expect her to be infallible. What convinced me to rely on Stella? Her impressive book, BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts. Her posts at Serious Eats. The success I’ve had in following her recipes. And her fun Twitter feed.
We might not always be aware of it, and it might be out of fashion in some circles, but we rely on experts all the time. We have finite amounts of time, energy, and talent to expend in our lives. We’d rapidly run dry if we aren’t willing to rely on experts.
That of course applies to contract drafting. The whole copy-and-paste engine reflects that building contracts from scratch for each transaction doesn’t make sense and wouldn’t be possible. But with each act of copying, you’re relying on someone.
When you copy something you’ve found online, you’re relying on … well, who knows who you’re relying on. At best, you’re relying on an institution’s reputation. This is an Acme contract! Acme wouldn’t have crappy contracts, would they? Well, actually, they would: I’ve shown time and again that BigLaw contracts and global-company contracts are reliably dysfunctional.
Even if you use a contract prepared by your law firm or law department, it might not be clear who you’re relying on, given that precedent contracts morph over time. The starting point might have been a contract from outside your organization, with further adjustments being made from transaction to transaction.
What if you’re using a contract template offered by a commercial service? You’re likely relying on an unnamed refugee from BigLaw, doing their BigLaw thing. That’s not particularly promising.
When it comes to individual usages, who are you relying on? When during my seminars I ask participants about the implications of a particular usage, usually those who offer their views are hazy as to the source. Someone once told me … I’ve heard that … To rely on conventional wisdom is to rely on no one.
My livelihood is based on my having decided twenty years ago that as regards the building blocks of contract language, no one was authoritative enough for me to be willing to rely on them. Since then, I’ve worked to make myself someone you would be willing to rely on.
What factors might be relevant? Your experience with MSCD? The general reputation of MSCD? My blogging? My marketplace-of-ideas smackdowns? What others say about me? The fact that I do seminars around the world? The shortcomings of other commentators? All that’s for you to decide.
In any event, I hope you’re willing to rely on me as an authority on contract usages just as I’m willing to rely on @BraveTart for purposes of baking cakes and pastries.
It’s admirable that you have faith in experts. But, as we know from Brexit, people have had enough of experts.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0ahUKEwiClM3565vYAhXnJ8AKHeImA2cQwqsBCB4wBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQw276pOBgSU&usg=AOvVaw29i1LwnBbkoTr4Yyo7aXFd
Well, you and I had better come up with something more marketable than being experts. I guess a double act at Butlins isn’t even a viable option anymore.
As an archaeology graduate, this may appeal.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0ahUKEwiClM3565vYAhXnJ8AKHeImA2cQwqsBCB4wBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQw276pOBgSU&usg=AOvVaw29i1LwnBbkoTr4Yyo7aXFd
Evidently Gove is the answer, whatever your question!
Ah, finally got around to looking at this on my PC. I’m not sure whether I should be impressed or alarmed that you managed to come up with this …
D.C. Toedt once said that Ken Adams has done the contract-drafting world a great service by finding and bringing to light thousands of drafting issues, thinking about them, and making recommendations for how to deal with them. It was in the context of his saying that he often disagreed with the recommendations.
The principal reasons I choose to trust MSCD are these:
(1) Sloth. Life is too short for me to (try to) reinvent the wheel when a fellow with plenty of semantic acuity (and access to top semanticists) has already spent two decades considering hordes of drafting issues one by one, over and over, with a view toward achieving accuracy, clarity, concision, and cohesion. I would no more sniff at the work of that expert than I would make up my own alphabet.
2/ Convenience. You have *compiled* the material and arranged and indexed it, so I can quickly find your advice on any topic on which I seek it. One volume!
3/ Safety. I can be sure that even if some people think your resolution of an issue isn’t the best, your recommendation is going to be within the realm of reason, so the other side is unlikely to read my draft and say, ‘What corner of outer space is this from?’
4/ Comprehensive. Nothing can cover everything, but I like that MSCD doesn’t disdain matters of format: font size and type; indenting; capitalization; outline hierarchy; numeration; etc. I like that I can turn to the ‘after’ sample for a quick reminder of many particulars in their native habitat, so to speak.
In my view, it’s the issue of trust that underlies your forthcoming ‘little book’, *Drafting Clearer Contracts*. MSCD spends a lot of ink (pixels) on describing the issue, pondering the considerations, arguing the alternatives, and producing a recommendation. If I have come to trust you already, I will be glad of a style guide that cuts to the chase and just lays out the recommendation. I can take your word for it.
I’m as suspicious of alleged experts as the next lad, but when you find a reliable expert, you don’t reject his advice because many others are fakes.
Happy holidays.
If you wanted to know why Stella Parks uses Gold Medal, could you find a solid reason in her public writing?
On an almost unrelated note, have you asked her whether you can just use King Arthur for everything?
She explains her preference on page 19 of her book. I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to include a photo of that passage, and I’m too lazy to summarize it!