Month: November 2013

Referring to the Gregorian Calendar?

Today I glanced at this Littler newsletter, which discusses a case involving a dispute over forum selection. But what caught my eye wasn’t the dispute itself. It was the language at issue: This Agreement is subject to the provisions of the Labor Law No. (58) for the year 1970 Gregorian and its amendments and the law on Social Solidarity No. … Read More

English-Language Contracts Held Void, So Maybe I Won’t Be Going to Indonesia After All

Recently I tentatively agreed to give a public “Drafting Clearer Contracts” seminar in Indonesia next year. But I’m not sure that would make sense currently, given that a Jakarta court has just held that all contracts entered into with an Indonesian public or private entity after 9 July 2009 that are not in Bahasa Indonesia (the Indonesian language) will be … Read More

Drafting for UCC Section 2-207

Jane K. Winn, professor at the University of Washington School of Law, recently asked me the following question: I’m trying to create an exercise for my first-year contracts class that would teach the students how to draft a good “Battle of the Forms” UCC § 2-207 term to block application of the counterparty’s boilerplate. The “Battle of the Forms” problem … Read More

I’m Coming to London

On 22–24 January 2014, I’ll be in London, at a forum entitled “Advanced Contract Risk Management for the Utility and Power Generation Industry.” (For more information, go here.) In particular, on 24 January I’ll be presenting a half-day workshop entitled “Effective Contract Language, Efficient Contract Process.” I’m looking forward to it. The roster of speakers looks interesting, and companies around the world will … Read More

2014 U.S. “Drafting Clearer Contracts” Seminars

Now hear this! Below are cities and dates for my public 2014 “Drafting Clearer Contracts” seminars in the U.S. for West LegalEdcenter. You’ll be able to register starting early December, once West puts the information online. We might add another city or two. Meanwhile, save the date! Dallas, TX (March 27, 2014) Atlanta, GA (April 3, 2014) Chicago, IL (May … Read More

A Real-World Example of a Preempt-the-Traditionalists Cover Note

In this post I quote Tim Hadley’s email to me regarding how the other side to a transaction responded to his MSCD-inspired drafting. An interesting additional aspect to Tim’s interaction with counsel representing the buyer was the cover note he added to the draft. Go here to see a PDF copy. Tim was prompted to add his cover note by … Read More

What Incremental Change Looks Like

For purposes of implementing clearer contract language and a more efficient contract process, change at the level of the organization allows change to happen more quickly. But given that inertia holds sway at most organizations, I suspect that change is mostly being implemented by individuals, whether operating on their own or within organizations. Last week I encountered an example of … Read More

Isaac Newton on Inertia

Isaac Newton defined inertia in his first law of motion. Here’s how his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica describes inertia: The vis insita, or innate force of matter, is a power of resisting by which every body, as much as in it lies, endeavours to preserve its present state, whether it be of rest or of moving uniformly forward in a straight line. If I … Read More