Tag: effective drafting

Great things come in small packages

David Hyner is terrified by detail, and Mike Pagan believes that contracts can be watertight, so how would they find talking to a construction contract lawyer? In my coffee shop podcast with YourBFG they asked me for my ‘mantra’ that kept me going… I remembered my mother’s words to create

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Edit ruthlessly

My 10 tips to improve your legal writing recommend you spend time ruthlessly crossing through, deleting or rewording your text. Whenever you can shorten a sentence, do. And one always can. The best sentence? The shortest. Gustave Flaubert You need to edit your text to create a document which suits

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What timescales should I include?

Copies of my book How to Write Simple and Effective Consultant Appointments in Just 500 Words have been prompting contacts, clients and friends to actually sit down and review their existing contracts. Bill Evans from D2E said “I must say, it was easy and compelling reading. The contents provides so

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Watertight contracts

What is a watertight contract? In my view it is like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow – we’d all like it to exist, but it doesn’t. Recent examples like Pimlico plumbers, Uber and Oakhurst diary have shown how so-called watertight contracts have been leaking at

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No written contract? No problem

A US$60m project for a luxury Caribbean resort came to a sorry end for many hundreds of disgruntled customers. Even if your project does not involve cabanas, windswept beaches or multi-million pound deals, you can learn from the lessons of Harlequin and its contractor. Setting the scene The ‘startling features’

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What’s the problem you solve?

A contract, whether it is a multi-million pound construction project, a structural survey on a house you were buying, or the design of your porch, is there to solve a client’s problem. Client’s don’t buy drills, they buy a tool to help them create holes. Client’s don’t buy porches, they

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Insurance does not limit your liability

Do you believe that if you insure your liabilities, the level of your insurance cover acts as a limit on your liability? It doesn’t. This is the most common misconception among business owners when I am delivering workshops on contracts. My objective is to help both sides protect their interests

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Lessons from failure: use simple effective terms

If you are writing a contract, you should really make sure that its terms are simple and effective. You need to ask: do both parties understand what it does? what is it meant to do? does it actually do? when would it apply? how does it transfer risk? Lessons from

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Write your contract in just 500 words

Many years ago, I sat in Ed’s diner at Euston Station (London) waiting for my train. I was chatting to my sister and she challenged me to write a contract in just 500 words. In a rash moment I agreed, and being a woman of my word, I had to

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Bare minimum for a contract

There are five legal essentials for a contract in English law: Offer: a promise to do something Acceptance: a nod, handshake, email or other action which accepts that offer (it has to be a ‘yes‘ (or ‘hell, yes‘) rather than a ‘yes, but…‘) Consideration: price, exchanged services or anything of

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