Here are some thoughts I put together for the recent IACCM “ask the expert” call that I did with Tim Allen, Business Integrity’s vice president–North America. I usually spend most of my time discussing what ails traditional contract drafting—dysfunctional language and the dysfunctional copy-and-paste process. But a lot of us are now all too familiar with the problems, so I’ve … Read More
(This is the first post in a new category, “Off-Topic.” Any post in that category will have nothing to do with contract drafting. Don’t worry, this won’t gradually become an off-topic blog.) I recently received the following from a reader: A recent change in IRS regulations has caused my firm, like many others, to drop the Circular 230 disclaimer that … Read More
During my visit to the biennial conference of the Legal Writing Institute, I saw that although their focus remains litigation writing, an increasing number of their members teach contract drafting, or would like to. I was also reminded that the Association of American Law Schools has a Section on Transactional Law and Skills. So if an organization serves to promote … Read More
Yesterday I attended the biennial conference of the Legal Writing Institute, where I received the 2014 Golden Pen Award. My thanks to LWI members in general, and president-elect Linda Berger in particular, for their generous hospitality. (That’s Linda and me to the right.) If you’d like to know why I received this award, go here. And below is the text … Read More
Occasionally I offer up an inquiry from a reader and step aside. This is one of those occasions. Blake Reagan is a lawyer who works as a contract administrator for The University of Tennessee. I got to meet him at my recent “Drafting Clearer Contracts” seminar in Los Angeles. He’s a thoughtful and no-nonsense guy, so I paid attention when he … Read More
Consider the following: If I don’t go to the movies because of your nagging … It conveys two possible meanings: If your nagging causes me not to go to the movies … If I go to the movies for one or more reasons other than your nagging … I encounter this sporadically in my general writing, but I don’t recall … Read More
The inimitable A. Wright Burke, M. Phil., added to this recent post on the word anyone the following comment (here): People are entities! There are natural entities (“individuals”) and artificial entities (e.g., corporations, khanates). People are “legal entities,” too. So the question is whether “anyone” refers only to natural persons or also to artificial persons. … If “anyone” is thought risky, “any … Read More
I was pleased that Mack Sperling, who maintains the blog North Carolina Business Litigation Report, told me about this post on his blog. It discusses a recent North Carolina case that turns on what it means to enter into a contract “with” someone. Here are the relevant facts, as reported by Mack: HCIM, one of the Defendants, had acquired a … Read More
This post is on Contract-Automation Clearinghouse. Go here. Contract-Automation Clearinghouse is where I now put my posts on contract automation and related topics.
It used to be that I’d wait impatiently for some article that I’d written to be published. “Perhaps this time,” I’d think, “they’ll sit up and take notice!” It’s probably a good sign that I plumb forgot that my most recent article was published last week. It’s entitled Termination-on-Bankruptcy Provisions: Some Proposed Language. It’s in the most recent issue of … Read More
