Over the past several posts I’ve talked about some of the large scale things partners need to discuss before going into a partnership arrangement. We talked about things such as communication skills, exit strategies, who is bringing what to the partnership in terms of money,...
Contracts
#mattthelawyer, Contracts, Small Business Advice / 10.09.2018
Risk Identification
One of the most important functions of any contract is identifying and managing risk. Most people prefer to avoid confrontation. With conflict avoidance comes a reluctance to address what could go wrong that could possibly ruin a relationship. But, identifying and managing the risk is...
#mattthelawyer, Contracts / 24.08.2018
“Herein” Is a Very Costly Word
One of the things I hate most about contracts is legalese. I have few other videos about legalese which you can see here, here, and here. But one of the categories of legalese is the words like "herein" and similar words that no one uses outside...
Here is another geeky contract term that a lot of people don’t understand, yet it has important implications if there is ever a dispute between the parties to a contract. The geeky contract term for this week is the Integration Clause. The Integration Clause (or...
#mattthelawyer, Contracts, Intellectual Property, Small Business Advice / 20.06.2018
Interview of MatttheLawyer
One of my clients Colleen Gratzer hosts a podcast called Design Domination. Colleen asked me to help explain some legal matters related to design and the creative business. You can listen to our conversation or read the transcript (if that is your thing). Also, if you are in the...
#mattthelawyer, Contracts, Learn to Love Your Legal, State Regulation / 13.06.2018
Governing Law, Jurisdiction, and Venue
Today, I want to talk about geeky contract terms that people often ignore: Governing Law, Jurisdiction, and Venue. These terms usually appear in the boilerplate of a contract, and I group these three subjects together because they revolve around one similar concept: What are going...
#mattthelawyer, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Contracts, State Regulation / 11.06.2018
The Problem with Arbitration and a Solution
Having spent several years in litigation practice, day in and day out all I dealt with were partners who were suing or being sued. I concluded that while litigation is an important part of the American legal system, it is also very wasteful. It is...
#mattthelawyer, Contracts, Writing / 08.06.2018
Why Is Contract Language Complicated Part II: Legal Education, Cut & Paste, and Culture
Once law students graduate and enter law practice, there are often multiple tracks to take in terms of career paths. In very general terms, there are three broad areas of legal practices: Litigation Practice, Transactional Practice, and Government/Policy Practice. Today we won’t look at policy...
#mattthelawyer, Contracts, Writing / 06.06.2018
Why Contract Language is So Complicated Part I: Legal Education.
Why are contracts so complicated? You know you hate the complicated contract. This is the first in a two-post exploration of some of the reasons why contracts have gotten so complicated. First, a quick caveat: contract language can be complicated if the deal itself is complicated....