This blog was prompted by a tweet from plain language specialist Cheryl Stephens. She was reviewing a UK Act of Parliament or law. ‘Cease to have effect on’ Many Acts of Parliament use a particular phrase to state when an Act, right or permission ends. This extract comes from The
When you’ve just set up your business, you don’t often have the money to spend on the ‘luxury’ of a lawyer to write your contract for you. However, what you really shouldn’t do is blindly copy terms off friends, clients, suppliers, the internet or from the back of a holiday
I was asked to sign a framework agreement recently [read more] that said it did not create mutual obligations. I refused as that clause showed a fundamental misunderstanding of what a contract does. This was not the first time I had seen this type of clause … Mutual obligations A
If we can tell stories in our business marketing then we can tell stories with our contract terms… The show will (probably) go on Strictly Come Dancing (a BBC TV show) includes a public vote and it’s T&C have improved from their original lengthy version. I think they could tell
What should your contracts try and do? My 500-word contracts are designed to build trust, and safeguard your business without annoying your clients. Being Too Literal One of the concerns of any person writing a contract is to ensure that the contract is interpreted as the parties intend. Not just
You may have heard that under English laws, individuals and companies have ‘freedom to contract’. But what does that jargon mean? Freedom to contract has several aspects: you can choose whether you enter into a contract, and with which persons (party freedom, or freedom to contract); you can choose the