Last week I saw this in a contract: Subcontracting. Acme may engage employees, independent contractors, consultants, or other persons or entities (collectively, “Assistants”) to aid Acme in performing Acme’s obligations under this Agreement, so long as those Assistants abide by the terms of this Agreement, specifically Section 7 (Confidentiality) and, if required under HIPAA, the
Adams on Contract Drafting
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Using, or Not Using, “The” in Defined-Term Parentheticals
By Ken Adams
This post nerds out on defined-term protocols. Specifically, should one use, or not use, the (or a or an) in defined-term parentheticals for defined terms that otherwise use the (or a or an)? MSCD says “include in a defined-term parenthetical the definite article the or the indefinite article a (or an), as appropriate. An article…
New Public “Drafting Clearer Contracts” Presentation on 10 and 11 June 2024
By Ken Adams
I’ve just scheduled a new public Drafting Clearer Contracts presentation. It consists of two three-hour sessions on 10 and 11 June 2024 (Monday and Tuesday), starting at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (US and Canada). (Well, it’s actually three hours and ten minutes, if you take into account a ten-minute break!) This presentation serves as an…
Misusing “Party”
By Ken Adams
Today I saw this sentence (emphasis added) from a confidentiality agreement: Recipient shall be liable for any unauthorized disclosure or use of Confidential Information by or related to any party to whom Recipient discloses Confidential Information, as if such disclosure or use were by Recipient itself. It’s relevant to something discussed at yesterday’s in-person Drafting…
I Just Did My First In-Person “Drafting Clearer Contracts” Presentation in Four Years
By Ken Adams
On Friday, I went to Manhattan to do my first in-person Drafting Clearer Contracts presentation in four years. (The photo above is from that presentation, during the lunch break.) The previous one was in March 2020, for a law firm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Then the pandemic hit, and I went from constantly being on the…
The U.S. Supreme Court Cites MSCD
By Ken Adams
In this post from last November, I noted that the U.S. Solicitor General had cited A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting in their brief in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving a dispute over an and, Pulsifer v. U.S. Well, two days ago the other shoe dropped: in their opinion in that…
The Big 12, Colorado, Utah, and Why You Should Steer Clear of “Agrees That”
By Ken Adams
College American football and I had been total strangers. But just today, we were introduced by longtime reader Chris Lemens, who sent me a link to this Substack post about how the Big 12 Conference (a collection of college sports teams that play competitively against each other) signed deals with the University of Colorado and…
A 17th Way to Say “May” With More Words and Less Clearly
By Ken Adams
In chapter 3 (Categories of Contract Language) of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, table 3 (Language of Discretion: May) showcases 16 ways to say may with more words and less clearly. Friends, it’s time to introduce you to a 17th way. It’s in the extract in the image above: has the option to.…
The Case for Using “The” with Party-Name Defined Terms That Consist of a Common Noun
By Ken Adams
Some people feel strongly that one shouldn’t use the article the with party-name defined terms that consist of a common noun. In other words, say Company, not the Company. Here’s what I say about that in A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting: If the defined term for a party name is a common noun,…
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith” Gets into Ambiguity of the Part Versus the Whole
By Ken Adams
With my wife, Joanne, traveling, I was left to my own devices for a couple of days. The only mischief I got up to was experimenting briefly with low-calorie pizza (not to be repeated) and watching a new limited series on Prime Video, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I found Mr. & Mrs. Smith diverting, mostly…