Contract drafting Archives

Must a contract term be one sentence?

In a contract drafting workshop last week, we were looking at a 126-word definition of a 3-word phrase. Someone asked, “Is there a rule that a definition has to be just one sentence?” There is no such rule, in English contract law or in life. But it was a sensible...

Permissive language in contracts: can, may, or is entitled to?

Contract drafting

An English contract manager asked me the other day about the use of ‘can’ and ‘may’ in modernised contracts. He and his US colleagues thought that ‘may’ seemed to be dominant in the terms they’d been debating, although it was not...

Terms of service? Didn’t read

Contract drafting

Two contrasting court cases in two weeks show the power of order, structure, signposting, and format, in standard contract terms. In each one, a customer signed up to the terms a business had drawn up to protect itself from disputes. When a dispute came up, guess...

Should you ever write “and/or”?

Contract drafting, Word choice, Writing habits

Short answer: No one ever has to write “and/or”. There is always another, better way to say what you mean. Consider the alternatives in this article. And/or often means one, the other or both I think this is the most common meaning of...

Must, shall and will in business contracts

Contract drafting, Word choice

An instructor in contract drafting once condemned a contract term I had written: Party B will pay Party A £25,000 by 30 September. “You haven’t created an obligation,” he told me. “To impose an obligation, use shall, not will.” I...

Can good contract drafting prevent disputes?

Clarity meeting, Contract drafting, Judgments, Sentence length

The Clarity breakfast on 6 June discussed whether good contract drafting can prevent disputes, focusing on commercial contracts and big disputes. Our speaker, Simon Rainey QC, suggested that no drafting can stop a party launching a claim, if the stakes are high...

« Older Entries

Must a contract term be one sentence?

Permissive language in contracts: can, may, or is entitled to?

Terms of service? Didn’t read

Should you ever write “and/or”?

Must, shall and will in business contracts

Can good contract drafting prevent disputes?

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