In ‘The Four Agreements’ Don Miguel Ruiz introduces the wisdom of the Toltecs. Given the title and my specialism, my attention was hooked into how it related to contract law and contract negotiation. He says: “Language is the code for understanding and communication between humans. Every letter, every word in
Chris Hadfield’s ‘Guide to Life on Earth’, whilst a compelling view into the life of an astronaut, contains lessons for mere mortals. Space travels involves 3 distinct phases, which we can also use for any legal transaction: Pre-Launch: the preparation phase. His preparation phase lasted tens of years. This is
Most contracts will include some form of mechanism or procedure allowing the parties to change the goods, works and services being provided. There are a number of myths about variation clauses because a simple express clause such as this in NEC4 “The Project Manager may give an instruction which changes
The Winfield Rock Report Overcoming the Legal and Contractual Barriers of BIM [available here] is a great step-forward in explaining both the essentials of BIM and the barriers to its adoption. As a contract and plain language specialist, the Report chimes with my experience: too much jargon too many initialisms
Early in 2018 on twitter, plain language expert Dominique Joseph (@clearerworld), Tim Cummins (@tcummins from the IACCM), Ken Adams (@KonciseD) watched closely by Stefania Passera (@StewieKee), asked who was doing a good job of making contracts more user-friendly? Initially, we got side-tracked because Dom had framed her question to ask
I have a thing about creating lovable contracts. After all, contracts help you run your business, which helps you make money, which helps you live the life you love. Hence, contracts should be lovable. In Stefania Passera’s thesis, she says that a standard, ‘design-free’ reactively drafted contract conveys the impression
In studying the role of contract visualization, Stefania Passera’s doctoral dissertation Beyond the wall of contract text (2017), she cites research that: Clear and implementable contract terms are crucial in building successful business relationships Well-structured and well-developed agreements foster better relations Long-term successful relationships require strengthened terms on communication, role
Beyond considering the role of contract visualization, Stefania Passera’s doctoral dissertation Beyond the wall of contract text (2017) she also looks at the functions of contract. Her conclusions are critical for contract creators like me who believe that the purpose of a contract is not merely to safeguard rights and
5 years ago I wrote a post about whether you could trust an employer with your retention. In the light of Carillion’s pending/actual insolvency* (delete according to when you read this), I wanted to clarify the legal position on retention. For simplicity the employer refers to the paying party –
I would like you to (1) learn from the failures of others (the quickest, cheapest and least painful approach) and (2) embrace the idea that failure is not optional – it is your best friend. Lesson: check the technical data In November 1999, NASA lost a $125m satellite, the Mars