I say elsewhere (in this blog post) that the core constituency for A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting is individuals. Here’s how I’ve been reminded of that recently. (Indulge me!) In a LinkedIn comment a couple of weeks ago that I’ve since lost in the flood, someone referred to how they prompt their favorite chatbot with “You’re Ken Adams, … Read More
Recently I saw this LinkedIn post by Jerry Levine in which he outlines six different styles of contract. The accompanying image is of how his post describes the first two kinds of contract, namely “Traditional/Legalese” and “Modern Precise.” He tags me in “Modern Precise,” saying I “built a whole discipline around this.” Jerry’s post got me thinking. In effect, he … Read More
In my article Merger Agreements Are Poorly Drafted, published today in Corporate Counsel Now (go here for the article, go here for the related blog post), I discuss the implications of an analysis I did of drafting shortcomings in the merger agreement for one of the biggest deals of 2025. Although this analysis is my most ambitious yet, I’ve done … Read More
In this post, I consider the risks posed by medical AI, then consider how to structure contract-drafting AI. The Risks of Medical AI Let’s start with medical AI. If you want some gripping reading, check out this LinkedIn article, The Great Inversion: How Healthcare AI Stopped Helping Doctors and Started Replacing Them. It’s by a surgeon, John Ferguson. It describes … Read More
Thanks to tipster Glenn West, I learned of an opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: Netflix, Inc. v. DivX, LLC, No. 2024-1541, 2026 WL 405791, at *1 (Fed. Cir. 13 Feb. 2026). It involves a patent dispute. Here’s the language at issue, from claim 1 of the patent: locating encryption information that identifies encrypted portions … Read More
Recently, I noticed that a contract made it a condition to delivering notice that it be sent by (among other options) “reliable overnight delivery service”. Let’s consider the implications of “reliable”. Imagine that the contract required Acme to notify Widgetco if any widgets exploded. A widget exploded, so Acme sent a notice by Reliable Courier, Inc., for delivery the next … Read More
Longtime readers will be aware that I roll my eyes at the notion of relying on contract language that has been “tested” by courts. As I say in a 2006 blog post, “Why rely on language that resulted in litigation? Instead, express any given concept clearly, so you don’t have to gamble on case law breathing into it the desired … Read More
I’ve written about the defined term this Agreement more often than I might have expected. (See for example this 2018 blog post and this 2016 blog post.) Yet here I am writing about it again, because I’d like to have in one place all my arguments on the subject, including one I’ve articulated only recently—what’s under the heading “An Explanation.” … Read More
In August 2025, ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) published ISO 24495-2:2025 (Plain language — Part 2: Legal communication). Here’s how ISO describes ISO 24495-2: This document deals with legal communication, and it builds on the foundation for plain language in ISO 24495-1. It establishes guidelines and techniques to help authors make sure that readers can readily understand legal communication … Read More
Sporadically, I’m hired to help people in a fight over confusing contract language. That kind of work isn’t my bread and butter, but I should do a lot more of it. Many courts are bad at making sense of confusing contract language. (For two of many examples, see this 2015 article and this 2020 blog post.) And so are many … Read More
