A few days ago, I received an email from the Library of Congress. Here’s the opening sentence: “The United States Library of Congress has selected your website for inclusion in the Legal Blawgs Web Archive, which is part of a larger collection of historically and culturally significant websites that have been designated for preservation.” (The
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Revisiting “Thereafter”
The relentless Kevin Toll (see this blog post) has proposed that I ditch thereafter. Here are some of his proposed changes to Adams Contracts templates: Regarding afterward, Garner’s Modern English Usage 37 (5th ed. 2022) says, “Afterwards (= later) is often changed to afterward by American editors, though in popular usage the two forms are…
Eating the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge: Or, Why “A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting” Is Necessary But Not Sufficient
At the beginning of this year, I said in this blog post that you cannot be an informed consumer (or producer) of contract language without consulting A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. No one has suggested I’m mistaken. I’m not surprised—disagreeing with me would require that you either (1) mount a spirited defense of…
Why I Don’t Bold the Title of a Contract
Last week, Kevin Miller, LegalSifter’s CEO, used Adams Contracts’ confidentiality agreement template. In the process, he suggested that I bold the title. When Kevin shared his opinion, I realized I’ve never explained why I don’t bold the title, and no one had ever commented on that preference. So around 25 years into my grand adventure,…
As Goes “Hereby Grants To”, So Goes “Hereby Assigns To”
This week, Adams Contracts launched a new service agreement template (see this post on the Adams Contracts blog). Whom did that rouse? Kevin Toll, the Adams Contracts client featured in this blog post from earlier this year. Turning on the new template a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, he pointed out how I…
The Delaware Chancery Court Cites MSCD on “The Expectation of Relevance”
In its recent opinion in Salama v. Simon, No. 2024-1124-JTL, 2024 WL 4906737 (Del. Ch. Nov. 27, 2024), the Delaware Court of Chancery cites A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting for what it has to say about “the expection of relevance.” That’s a concept underlying a subtle ambiguity associated with the word may. Rather…
“Drafting Clearer Contracts” Training for the First Three Months of 2025
At long last, go here for details of the initial Drafting Clearing Contracts training for 2025, consisting of three series of Masterclass and one presentation. (Go here for general information about Masterclass; go here for general information about my presentations.) On the course site you’ll see links to testimonials. In recent years, I’ll done little…
Distinguishing Between the Date of the Contract and Timing of Performance
Recently, noted swashbuckler and longtime comrade-in-arms Alex Hamilton issued me a challenge: Why not give a contract just an “effective date” without worrying about whether effective date refers to the date of the contract or timing of performance? Confusion In A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, I say you should distinguish between the two…
ChatGPT Does “A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting”
At the recent ACC annual meeting, Adrian Goss—whom I first met a dozen years ago on a trip to Australia—told me he had uploaded some miscellaneous-provisions stuff from Practical Law and asked ChatGPT to redraft it so it complies with the guidelines in A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. In this 2023 blog post,…
Metrics on Training in Contract Drafting? I Don’t Think So
I saw discussion on LinkedIn about whether one might use metrics to assess training in contract drafting. Here’s why I think that ain’t happening. How to Say Clearly and Concisely What You Want to Say in a Contract First, what’s meant by training in contract drafting? Let’s assume it refers to the kind of training…