[Updated 9 March 2021: This post has been superseded by my article Know Your Enemy: Sources of Uncertain Meaning in Contracts, Michigan Bar Journal (Oct. 2016) (here).] [I was prompted to write this post after consulting, over the past few months, dozens of cases ostensibly involving ambiguity but in fact dealing with a range of other problems. I plan on … Read More
Reader Michael Fleming informed me of US Salt, Inc. v. Broken Arrow, Inc., Civ. No. 07-1988, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10841 (D. Minn. Feb. 11, 2008). This case serves as a reminder that a court would likely conclude that if Smith promises to purchase widgets from you, you’ve in effect also promised to supply widgets to Smith. US Salt and … Read More
Here’s a quick way to save three words: instead of saying in accordance with the terms [or provisions] of section 6, say simply in accordance with section 6.
Today I read in a work on contract drafting an explanation of the purpose served by the phrase as the case may be. I think the analysis offered was incorrect. Here’s my view: When in a contract a sentence provides for alternative courses of action, often one or more sentences that follow go on to address the immediate consequences. When … Read More
As I noted in this post, from April 21 through April 25 I’ll be giving my “Contract Drafting—Language and Layout” seminar at the Geneva, Switzerland offices of Hogan & Hartson. Well, I’ve now upgraded the registration system. For one thing, you can now pay by credit card, if you wish. To go to the registration page, click here. For information … Read More
Bylaws is spelled both with and without a hyphen. For example, Black’s Law Dictionary gives a definition for bylaw but notes that it’s sometimes spelled by-law. So which is preferable? It appears that bylaw is gaining the upper hand. For example, the 1915 edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Revised used by-laws but the current edition, Robert’s Rules of Order … Read More
In a recent post I suggested that accurate is a “less dopey” alternative to true and correct. (Yes, I know, I too thought that an impressive turn of phrase.) That led a reader to suggest to me that complete and accurate is preferable to accurate. Presumably he had in mind that if you give me a list, the items on … Read More
I suggest that for purposes of contract drafting, you can always do without automatically. Consider the following fragment: … and each January 1 thereafter, this agreement will be automatically extended for one additional year unless not later than … I suggest that eliminating the word automatically wouldn’t affect the meaning. The same goes for automatically in the following fragment: … … Read More
Perhaps because they’re aware that I’ve had occasion to consider punctuation, some readers contacted me about the February 18 New York Times article about use of a semicolon in a New York City Transit subway placard. Here’s the one thought that came to mind: In contracts, I use semicolons between integrated enumerated clauses when they’re preceded by a colon and … Read More
I’m pleased to announce that from Monday, April 21, through Friday, April 25, I’ll be giving five consecutive one-day seminars on “Contract Drafting—Language and Layout” at the Geneva, Switzerland offices of the global law firm Hogan & Hartson. All are welcome to register. The seminars are being supported by ACC Europe and by the International Bar Association, so their members … Read More
