Business Law Today, the online magazine of the Section of Business Law of the ABA, has published my new article Making a Mess of Ambiguity: Lessons from the Third Circuit’s Opinion in Meyer v. CUNA Mutual Insurance Society. It explores, in detail, a recent instance of confusion over the meaning of an or in a contract. Go here to read it.
Writing this article was particularly interesting and challenging, so I hope you find it worthwhile. For the drafter, the only way to avoid this kind of confusion—ambiguity of “the part versus the whole”—is to learn how to spot it. MSCD chapter 10 explores it at length. Paragraph 10.39 mentions briefly the kind of confusion on display in Meyer v. CUNA. It’s safe to say that I’ll be expanding that discussion in the third edition.
And a big thank-you to Caroline Vodzak for telling me about this case. She blogs at VodzakLegal about Pennsylvania appellate cases.
