John Gillies, director of practice support at the Toronto law firm Cassels Brock, spoke on contract drafting at a conference put on by the Ontario Bar Association last week. He was kind enough to send me the paper he had prepared. John is no stranger to what I do. For one thing, I’ve conducted a couple of seminars at Cassels … Read More
Every issue of contract language, no matter how minor, is worth addressing correctly. And some readers have clearly embraced that approach. For example, I received the following note from reader David Baghdassarian, an associate at K&L Gates: Have you opined on use of the word “telecopier” instead of “facsimile” (or “fax”)? I believe “telecopier” was Xerox’s brand name for an … Read More
Click here to go to it. (You may need to register, without charge.) This is the first time I’ve gotten any real coverage outside of legal periodicals. I hope it’s a sign of increasing interest in clearer contracts in general and my approach in particular. Any thoughts?
Through the contract-automation grapevine I heard about Kingsley Martin, president of KIIAC LLC, a company using proprietary software to help customers analyze contract models. Kingsley was kind enough to speak with me about KIIAC and show me how the software works. It’s sophisticated and intuitive, and I think it meets a real need, so I was happy to turn my … Read More
On April 1 I’ll be in Philadelphia, speaking at the first conference for in-house counsel organized by DELVACCA, the Delaware Valley chapter of the Association for Corporate Counsel. Some three hundred in-house lawyers are expected to attend this all-day CLE event, but it’s almost sold out, so you’ll have to be quick if you want to join them. It’s free … Read More
I’ve written before about contract-lifecycle-management (CLM) software. (Click here for some general thoughts on CLM; the ACC Docket article I co-authored also discusses CLM.) I’m pleased that this post allows me to revisit the topic. During a trip to Switzerland a couple of years ago I met Chris Craddock, the marketing director of Symfact, an increasingly prominent CLM vendor. Thereafter … Read More
I was prompted to consider the word subsidiary when I realized that it’s not necessarily clear what kind of entities can be a subsidiary. And I stuck around to consider how one might define subsidiary. What Kind of Entities? The main problem with subsidiary is that it can create confusion regarding what kind of entities can be a subsidiary. Let’s … Read More
Jones v. Francis Drilling Fluids, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21388 (Mar. 17, 2008 S.D. Tex.), concerns a worker injured while working on a floating drill barge rig located in inland waters. He had been working for Francis Drilling, which had been working as a contractor for ADTI under a master services agreement (MSA). And ADTI had been providing turnkey drilling … Read More
Reader Jonathan Handel—he of the Digital Media Law Blog—sent me the following interesting inquiry: I’m wondering if you have any thoughts in regards to a gay rights issue related to drafting various corporate documents. This question may be on the edge as to whether it’s a drafting issue or a substantive one, but I figured I’d ask your thoughts. In … Read More
I recently leafed through Business Contracts: Turn Any Business Contract to Your Advantage (Entrepreneur Press 2007). The publisher was kind enough to send me a review copy. It’s by Laura Plimpton, a lawyer. As the title suggests, it aims to help businesspeople get to grips with contracts. In just under 200 pages, Plimpton discusses a broad range of contract issues. … Read More
