Somehow, I now find myself articulating for the first time concepts I’ve relied on since forever. Today’s concept is “semantics hygiene”. That’s my term for getting in the habit of expressing yourself clearly in contracts, even if in a given
Adams on Contract Drafting
Blog Authors
Latest from Adams on Contract Drafting
Comparing Three Ways to Express a Condition
I’ve been presented with a choice between three alternative versions of a boilerplate provision. They’re shown in the image above. Using my categories-of-contract-language lingo, the first version uses language of obligation to express a condition. The second expresses a condition…
What’s Semantic Acuity, and How Can I Get Some?
You cannot be an informed consumer (or producer) of contract language without consulting A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. (See this 2024 blog post.) So doesn’t it follow that to be an informed consumer of contract language, all that’s required…
On Messing Up the Small Things
Apparently Emily Dickinson said, somewhere, “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves.” That sounds comforting, but it seems like a recipe for unexpectedly being steamrollered while you’re taking care of the small…
For the Nth Time, I Do Battle with the Notion of “Tested” Contract Language
The Notion of “Tested” Contract Language LinkedIn is the place where dead ideas go to be endlessly reborn from their ashes, like a phoenix. One such idea is the notion that it’s risky to abandon the legalese featured in contracts,…
The Library of Congress Has Selected This Blog, Before Law Blogs Go the Way of the Dodo
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…