In this December 2011 post I considered document-design “bling” in Australian contracts. I’d now like to consider another issue relating to the look of Australian contracts: use of tabulated enumerated clauses. Consider the screenshot to the right (click on it to see it full-size). I think it’s a compact but otherwise representative example of how Australian drafters like to break … Read More
I confess that while I was at LegalTech I did only a minimal amount of prospecting at other booths, so I didn’t get to speak with anyone about “Westlaw Drafting Assistant – Transactional.” (Including an en-dash, with spaces, in your brand? That takes some gumption.) It’s described in this item as being “the first comprehensive set of automated tools and … Read More
On Monday I had the pleasure of meeting at LegalTech Ari Kaplan, prolific observer of the legal scene. He did an impromptu guerilla interview of me that you can see here. I recommend you not watch it if any impressionable children are in the room—they might be traumatized by my snaggle-toothed leer and looming schnoz.
Today (Monday, January 30) and tomorrow I’ll be at LegalTech New York, one of legions manning the new, double-wide Business Integrity booth (324/326). If you’d like to have a chat, call or text me at (516) 318-6956, email me, direct-message me on Twitter at @KonciseD, send smoke signals … One bit of news we’ll be imparting to visitors to Business … Read More
Reader Bradley Clark, proprietor of the Texas Law Blog, let me know about the recent Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ opinion in Carey v. 24 Hour Fitness, USA. Here’s the gist of it: The district court held that the binding arbitration provision relied upon by 24 Hour Fitness is illusory because 24 Hour Fitness “retain[ed] the unilateral right to modify … Read More
Readers of this blog will be familiar with Glenn West and his articles on extra-contractual liability (click here for a copy) and on consequential damages (click here for a copy). You may recall that Glenn is one of my co-presenters in Koncision’s webcast “Drafting and Reviewing Confidentiality Agreements.” Well, The Business Lawyer has just published another Glenn article (with co-author Natalie … Read More
MSCD 12.349 notes that in contracts not only is such is used to mean “of this/that kind” (its meaning in standard English), it’s also used instead of the “pointing words” this, that, these, and those. The latter use is unhelpful, in that it goes against the basic principle that in drafting you don’t want to use one word to convey … Read More
In this recent blog post I said that usually in contracts the verb guarantee is followed by a noun rather than a that-clause. But I’m not sure I can explain the aversion to guarantees plus that-clause. I think it’s safe to say that “Acme guarantees that Widgetco will comply with its obligations under this agreement” conveys the same meaning as … Read More
“Procurement” is a standard business term. I refers to a company’s acquisition of goods or services, and the department that handles such matters is commonly referred to simply as “Procurement.” But the verb procure is a slightly different matter. It’s a formal word for get. As noted in Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Usage, it’s even more formal than obtain. I suspect that … Read More
Yes, giving seminars in Australia, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, and Geneva is exotic and all, but I spend most of my time in the U.S. and Canada. With that in mind, allow me to mention the following seminars: February 23, Vancouver, BC (for more information, go here) March 6, Dallas, TX (for more information, go here) I hope to see some … Read More
