Blog

It’s a Bad Idea to Rely on Principles of Interpretation in Deciding on Contract Language

11 August 2023 by Ken Adams

Yesterday I encountered this LinkedIn post about “canons of construction.” (I call them “principles of interpretation.”) The post begins as follows: Tip for law students and newer attorneys: Familiarize yourself with the rules of contract interpretation (often called “canons”), if, like me, you didn’t learn them in law school. Courts rely on these default rules to interpret contracts and statutes. … Read More

The Nature of L2L Contracts: Thoughts Prompted by a Chris Simkins Blog Post

11 August 202310 August 2023 by Ken Adams

I noticed the most recent post by Chris Simkins on his Improving Contracts blog. Entitled L2L Contracts: Thinking beyond B2C and B2B, it explores the implications of, well, L2L contracts. What are L2L contracts, you ask? Here’s what Chris says: When I use L2L, I don’t mean a contract between two lawyers, or two law firms. I’m using it to … Read More

There’s No Such Thing as “On Time.” You’re Either Early or You’re Late.

7 August 20233 August 2023 by Ken Adams

This post is about how we manage time. When it comes to video entertainment, I’m partial to shows that offer flair and imagination but don’t demand too much of me. That’s how I found myself watching the first episode of Justified: City Primeval, featuring the further adventures of U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens. Bam, 36 seconds in, they hit me with … Read More

New T-Shirt: “The Traditionalist”!

29 July 2023 by Ken Adams

For the sheer heck of it, I’ve added another T-shirt to my collection of snarky contract-drafting gear. It uses a design by Russell Christian that I commissioned years ago. I used to call it “The Scrivener”, but now I’m calling it “The Traditionalist”. On the back is the Adams on Contract Drafting logo. The T-shirt is available here. As always, … Read More

How Many Years of Education Does It Take to Understand the Average Business Contract? (Trick Question!)

26 July 202326 July 2023 by Ken Adams

I noticed that WorldCC and Deloitte Legal have produced a report entitled The ROI of Contracting Excellence 2023. (Go here to ask for a copy.) It’s mostly unrelated to what I do, but I noticed this passage on page 11 of the report: In consumer markets, many organizations (and regulators) have grasped the importance of greater balance and of simplifying … Read More

A Testimonial for a Private Series of “Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass”

25 July 2023 by Ken Adams

In addition to public series of my online course Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass (information here), I also do private series for organizations. The dynamic is different when the only participants are people from your organization. And I customize my PowerPoint presentations with examples drawn from your templates. I’m a little lax about harvesting testimonials, mostly because I don’t want to … Read More

Meet Another Proponent of “Tested” Contract Language

5 September 202313 July 2023 by Ken Adams

I noticed that another legacy-media holdover, Scientific American, has devoted an article (here) to that recent study on lawyer attitudes to contracts legalese. In this recent post, I explain how that study is misleading. But that’s not what this post is about. Instead, in passing I noticed this in the Scientific American article: Jeremy Telman, a law professor at the … Read More

Tiptoeing Around “Nonlawyer”

13 July 20236 July 2023 by Ken Adams

I’ve previously written about the word nonlawyer, in this 2020 blog post. Prompted by something I posted on LinkedIn yesterday (here), I thought I’d try again, to reflect a further thought. So this post is my definitive take, until my next nonlawyer post! I think what Julie Savarino says in this LinkedIn post (see also Julie’s follow-up post here) captures … Read More

Getting Contract-Drafting Stuff Done

5 July 2023 by Ken Adams

I was among the few million people who noticed a video of President Obama urging young people to become known for getting stuff done. Here’s the tie-in to contract drafting: It would indeed be to a junior person’s benefit to acquire a reputation for getting stuff done. That requires competence. I suggest that for purposes of contract drafting, being an … Read More

Could You Use Artificial Intelligence to Check Whether a Contract Complies with “A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting”?

17 January 20243 July 2023 by Ken Adams

Today someone asked me this in an email message: Are you exploring training AI to incorporate A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting for proofreading contracts? I could see value in a plug-in that incorporates (in track changes) relevant proposed modifications after “learning” the contents of MSCD and applying it to all or part of a contract. This isn’t the … Read More

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