The word mandatory can come in handy in contracts, for example in the defined term Mandatory Conversion, as distinguished from Voluntary Conversion. But it can also be surplussage, in that if something is stated as an obligation, then necessarily it’s mandatory. That’s why I think mandatory can be omitted from the following examples: The parties agree that all claims, disputes … Read More
You’ve presumably seen this blog post announcing Koncision Contract Automation. I could have waited until Koncision CA was ready for launch before announcing, but I have two reasons for announcing now. One, I want to have the benefit of input from potential users. And two, I want to recruit two editorial boards; that’s what I want to consider now. To … Read More
In the coming months we’ll be establishing the framework and policies of Koncision Contract Automation. The document-assembly engine that will power it, ContractExpress, operates as you’d expect: users answer a questionnaire, and based on the answers provided the system then compiles and adjusts the preloaded contract language. But beyond that, there’s plenty of room for enhancements. Here are some of … Read More
I’m pleased to announce that I’m partnering with Business Integrity, developer of ContractExpress document-assembly software, to develop Koncision Contract Automation, an online subscription-based service that will make available to lawyers document-assembly templates for business contracts. We’ll be launching our first product, a line of confidentiality agreement templates, in the first quarter of 2011. This development won’t come as a surprise … Read More
There’s been quite a bit of blogosphere chatter recently about lawyers and plagiarism. The most recent salvo is this post by Peter Friedman, who teaches legal analysis and writing at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. In my cloistered way, I pay real attention only when the discussion touches on contract drafting. And here’s what Peter had to say … Read More
I recently received the following inquiry from longtime reader John “Fitz” Fitzpatrick: Pardon me if I missed a blog discussion on e-signature (have you had one?), but recently a bunch of companies have requested that we sign our contracts with them using e-signature through a company called EchoSign. Nice idea in principle, but I have a three issues. First, I … Read More
I noted with interest this article on the website of the Association for Corporate Counsel. It’s entitled “Top Ten Innovations to Improve Enterprise-Wide Contract Management,” and it’s by Nancy Jessen and Bret Baccus of Huron Consulting Group. (Nancy was kind enough to be on the panel for the seventh in my series of “Drafting Clearer Contracts” webcasts, the one on automating … Read More
Drafting mistakes are mainly of interest to me for the lessons I can deduce about how not to draft; I don’t particularly care how the mess is cleaned up. But sometimes I’ll pause to examine the wreckage. In that spirit, I recently read this article by Alison Frankel for the American Lawyer. It describes as follows the circumstances leading to a … Read More
Last week the New York Times ran two stories on legal outsourcing. The first (click here), by Heather Timmons, describes the growth of legal outsourcing in India. The second (click here) is a “City Room” blog item by John Eligon; in it, two BigLaw partners offer differing takes on outsourcing. I’ve written on this topic previously, but the following passage in the … Read More
I happened upon this blog post by Susan Wilson of Alston+Bird regarding a recent Delaware Chancery Court opinion, Cambridge North Point LLC v. Boston and Maine Corporation. B&M argued that the court should hold the contract at issue unenforceable because B&M had signed the contact “without noticing” a new provision added to a draft by Cambridge. But B&M had proposed revisions … Read More
