Blog

I’ve previously written about whether to use stockholder or shareholder; see MSDC 12.336 and this blog post. (I say it doesn’t matter which you use.) Here’s a related issue that’s just as thrilling: should you say shareholders’ agreement, with an apostrophe, or shareholders agreement, without the apostrophe? (Obviously the same debate applies to stockholders’ agreement.) Note that if each agreement is … Read More

In contracts, addresses occur in the notices provision. And if a contract doesn’t include a notices provision, usually I’ll include in the introductory clause the address of any individual that’s a party, so as to distinguish that individual from anyone else with the same name; see MSCD 1.49. But some addresses are more dependable than others. Reader Chris Lemens recently … Read More

Can astute contract drafting can forestall all contract disputes? No, it cannot. Most contract disputes, sure. But not all. For example, vagueness is an essential tool for the contract drafter, as often the future is too uncertain to allow you to be precise. But being vague leaves room for future dispute. And often parties rationally elect to punt on a … Read More

I’ve recently become acquainted with a specialized form of contract language—architectural specifications, which are attached to construction contracts and define the requirements for products, materials, and workmanship on which the contract is based and requirements for project administration and performance. My entrée to this field was Andrew Wilson, whose business, AWC West, prepares custom-tailored architectural specifications for leading design firms. … Read More

This Mace & Jones “Education Update” alerted me to the recent English case of KG Bominflot Bunkergesellschaft fur Mineralole MBH & Co KG v Petroplus Marketing AG (2009). Here’s the gist of it: The buyers purchased from the sellers fuel oil that tested OK before shipping but was found to be unsatisfactory on arrival. The buyers claimed, among other things, … Read More

Each of my webcasts—or rather the first five, solo webcasts—consists of a narrated and annotated PowerPoint presentation. That sounds simple enough, but it’s not the norm in the webcast world. Webcasts for the most part consist of phoned-in audio or talking-head video. If there’s a PowerPoint presentation, the audience is invited to view it on-screen or print it out, then … Read More

In contracts and elsewhere, it’s standard to refer to remediation of environmental contamination. It’s also standard to use the verb remediate to refer to the act of remediation. Garner’s Modern American Usage isn’t fond of remediate: remediate, a back-formation from remediation, is either a needless variant of remedy or a piece of gobbledygook. E.g.: “The evidence suggested that there was … Read More

For the heck of it, every so often I search “contract drafting” on Twitter. A few times I’ve been pleasantly surprised to spot a mention of my book. Once someone who evidently was then in one of my seminars tweeted that the seminar wasn’t as much fun as her dinner with an old friend the previous evening. No surprise there—I … Read More

In an item posted today on the (new) legal writer, Ray Ward says the following: Right now I’m reading a long list of definitions in a bankruptcy plan of reorganization, and I just came across this one: “‘SpiritBank’ means SpiritBank.” As definitions go, that’s pretty lame. I’m sure you, dear reader, have seen other examples of definitions that are self-evident, … Read More