MSCD 3.38 invites readers to request a free 30-day trial of the Numbering Assistant, the paragraph-numbering tool developed by Payne Consulting Group that allows you to quickly and simply apply one of the two flavors of the MSCD enumeration scheme to any contract in Word. Well, Payne Consulting Group is finally in a position to respond to any such requests, … Read More
The September 8, 2008, issue of the National Law Journal contains my opinion piece “Dysfunctional Drafting.” Click here to go to the online version. By the way, check out the little illustration accompanying the piece.
For most of us, using document-assembly to draft contracts remains an apparently distant prospect. But for some, it’s a fact of life. For example, I’ve previously mentioned the AIA’s Contract Documents system. Well, document assembly is sufficiently accepted in the construction industry that it now has a competitor, ConsensusDOCS. But a particularly interesting example of document assembly’s being used to … Read More
It’s uncanny how the following Dilbert cartoon strip captures perfectly my feelings regarding the language and process of mainstream contract drafting. Thanks to the (new) legal writer for spotting it.
I just learned that students are entitled to a 40% discount on A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting if it’s assigned reading for a law-school class. If you’re a professor and would like to find out more (no students, please!), click here to send an email to Katrina Krause of the ABA.
Comments to my recent post on granting language in a license alluded to the case of Jacobsen v. Katzer (Fed. Cir., Aug. 13, 2008). I’d like to pick up on something mentioned by commenter Chris—the court’s discussion of provided that. This case involved the language of an “open source” copyright license. The license granted users the right to use the … Read More
Here’s a generic bit of granting language from a software license agreement: Acme hereby grants Widgetco a nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully paid-up, worldwide license to the Software (that license, the “License“). I’m not a licensing guy, so it is with some trepidation that I ask the following question: Are such adjective-heavy formulations really the best alternative? As with any … Read More
The ABA Web Store now has in stock copies of the second edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. Click here to go to the relevant page. And note that the ABA is offering free ground shipping through the end of August. The ABA is currently the only place you can purchase the book; it won’t be sold … Read More
At a CLE session at the ABA annual meeting I learned of LaPoint v. AmeriSourceBergen Corp., No. 327-CC (Del. Ch. May 1, 2007), a Delaware Court of Chancery case that offers an interesting instance of mistake. The case involved a dispute over an acquisition earnout. AmerisourceBergen had agreed to acquire Bridge Medical Inc. for $27 million plus additional payments to … Read More
Here’s another entry in the rhetorical-emphasis hall of shame—in all respects. Here’s an example: This agreement is in all respects governed by Minnesota law. By omitting in all respects you lose nothing except surplus words. The same goes for in all material respects—use instead materially, but remember that it’s ambiguous. (For more on that, see chapter 8 of the second … Read More
