A few days ago I encountered the word coterminous for the first time … ever? Of course, it was in a contract. Here’s the Blacks Law Dictionary definition: coterminous (koh-tər-mə-nəs) adj. (18c) 1. (Of ideas or events) coextensive in time or meaning <Judge Smith’s tenure was coterminous with Judge Jasper’s>. Is coterminous a worthwhile term of art, or is it … Read More
This is the first of two posts prompted by what a reader said in a recent exchange of emails. Here’s one thing they said: On more than one occasion, a colleague has used the term “academic” as a pejorative to describe my interest in an issue. For example, “well, let’s try to stay away from just academic discussions and concentrate … Read More
Today we salute Meade Ali. Meade is a longtime reader, but he also happens to be a participant in one of the current series of Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass. It was in that capacity that he laid it on me: in chapter 3, in table 1, on page 52, example [1-2b] is marked with two Xs but it should in … Read More
I’m getting the hang of Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass. I’m no Zoom maestro, but I’ve sorted out my two-device setup (so I can annotate my PowerPoint presentation while keeping an eye on things), and it’s been a while since I screwed things up. And my ring light shows my ravaged mug to great effect! I’m pleased with Thinkific, the learning … Read More
Other than my posts for LegalSifter (which don’t really count), I can’t recall having ever done an original guest post on someone else’s blog. Well, if you want to read my post Suggestions for a New Contracts Blogger, you’ll have to go to Nada Alnajafi‘s new blog, Contract Nerds. I wish Nada all the best with her blog.
Thanks to a tip from @ZedtheGamer, I encountered the concept of anniversary month in this bit of convolution: Anniversary month evidently means the month in which the anniversary of a given event occurs. Here’s how it’s defined in an Illinois statute: “Anniversary month” means the month in which the anniversary of the limited liability company occurs. By default it’s forward-looking, … Read More
In today’s post about nonlawyers and contract drafting (here), I offer contract managers a discount on my new online course Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass. Why contract managers? Why not other nonlawyer constituencies? One reason is that contract managers might be the biggest, most homogenous nonlawyer bloc working with contracts. But mainly it’s because I’ve long thought that contract managers might … Read More
[Updated 6 July 2023: Today’s blog post (here) addresses something I omitted from this post, so until further notice it’s my definitive take on nonlawyer!] Before doing today’s post on nonlawyers helping with contract drafting (here), I was aware of grumbling about the word nonlawyer. I’m entirely willing to revisit the implications of words I use. For example, after being … Read More
In today’s post about how nonlawyers can help with contract drafting (here), I advance an idea I don’t recall having seen expressed before. It hardly seems a revolutionary idea, but I thought it appropriate to hear what other had to say about it. So I reached out to a handful of my connections, some long-standing, others more recent. I wanted … Read More
Recently I tweeted this: Legal builds contracts because lawyers are good at claiming turf. Contracts are business documents: that they're legally enforceable and contain dispute resolution provisions isn't a reason to make them a legal fiefdom. Give them to people skilled in deals and contract language. — Ken Adams (@AdamsDrafting) August 16, 2020 I’ll now explain myself in more than … Read More
