A key aspect of legal design, is the concept of user-centred law. As Tessa Manuello says ‘Most legal service delivery has been designed for a world that no longer exists‘. User-centred law adapts existing legal services and systems to meet the users’ needs, rather than trying to adapt users to
Am I the only person who went into construction for the paperwork? If so, it would make a massive difference if others like you could take the time to plan and sign your contracts properly. The NBS Contracts and Law Report 2018 shows 30% of projects start without a contract
Designing tools which neither reflect nor understand the user’s experience or journey is a foolish waste of time. In the Legal Creatives Academy, I was set a challenge to design a legal tool. I decided to map the payment aspects of a building project for a home-owner. I immediately drew
Legal Frustration There is a English legal doctrine called frustration. It acts to bring a contract prospectively to an end because of the effect of a supervening event ie it ends the contract early. It requires the law to recognise that: without default of either party a contractual duty is
As it says on my website (it used to called my manifesto) “We believe that what you need & want from your contracts is not what you get. We believe: You should only sign contracts on the dotted line when you can read, understand and use them. You can write
If you understand the principles on concurrent delay then you might also be aware of the debate whether the contract should define concurrent delay and pass its risk to the contractor. In North Midland v Cyden, the parties amended the standard JCT contract to require: the contractor to make reasonable
According to the data, 75% of clients expect their software projects to fail! Wow… and I thought we had it bad in construction! What should you do? Many of the proposed solutions (link) will also resonate for anyone involved with construction projects: Improve communication Embrace change (both in the project
I love it when ideas from another industry make atesense for contracts. Gavin Scott of Loaf training was talking at the Professional Speaking Association about customer service. He said that 34% of client loyalty comes from being easy to deal with. Lightbulb! Contracts are one of the first elements of
My talk at the 2017 CoMIT Conference (read the live blog) drew parallels between banking and construction because banking was based on trust (hence the term ‘rich as Croesus’ as he mastered the art of trustworthy coins as tools to stimulate commerce in Lydia). The former chair of JCT said
Although 86% of the audience at the 2017 CoMIT Conference (read the live blog) did not think language was the biggest barrier to digital contracts, we cannot automate our current contracts. The problems include: Jargon: the legal language is one-sided and full of jargon so the obligations are not universally
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