And now, for something completely different: I ride my bike to work, whenever possible – preferably 5 days/week. I can take the short route which is only about a mile, or I can take a longer route, which is closer to 4 miles, and more scenic.

You get an agreement from a new vendor. You start to read it and your eyes glaze over. “In the event that….provided, however,…..including but not limited to…… For the avoidance of doubt……….” And on and on it goes. What gobbledygook. Of course this stuff is hard to read! So is quantum physics, but that’s because [...]

In previous posts we’ve dealt with “boilerplate” clauses such as waiver, jurisdiction and venue, and integration. Today we will talk about two related clauses: the “assignment” clause and the “binding effect” clause.

We’ve been talking the past few posts about boilerplate language in contracts. This standardized language that falls towards the end of almost all contract documents might seem to be excessive and pointless, especially when you’re trying to do the writing yourself.

One of our good business clients, Equity Concepts, based in Henrico, VA, is  celebrating their 20th anniversary. Sands Anderson’s Tom Ebel, recently spent some time talking with Michael Thaler, president of Equity Concepts, about their success and our relationship.

In the last post we talked about boilerplate clauses, specifically, the “integration clause.” There are lots of other boilerplate sections that might seem to just be boring and unnecessary text, something you might drop if you didn’t know why they exist. Let’s look at two more. Example one is the jurisdiction and choice of law clause. [...]

Ever heard someone say, when reviewing a contract with you, “that’s just boilerplate, don’t worry about it…” ? Maybe you and a customer considered saving some money by drafting your own agreement and decided to skip all that “boilerplate.”

Oh when will they ever learn? (Pete Seeger – Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Copyright 1961 (renewed) Fall River Music Inc. It seems that internet and social media titans Google and Facebook have once again, to no one’s surprise, gotten themselves in some hot water with the FTC and some privacy watchdogs again. They [...]

Guest post by Erin McNeill  NPR recently did a story about Grand Rapids, Michigan’s inspiring response to a Newsweek article listing Grand Rapids as one of America’s “dying cities” with a “bleak” economic outlook. Many small and medium business owners can empathize with what the people of Grand Rapids felt in the face of such [...]

The resolving recession may have some permanent effects.  One good thing is the willingness of more law firms to negotiate fee arrangements that do not focus on the billable hour, frequently referred to as Alternative Fee Arrangements, or “AFAs.”