There are 3 kinds of risks: the risk that you’ll get screwed or sued; the risk that you’ll get in a fight and the risk that you’ll lose the fight. These risks are ever present. The only way to avoid these risks completely is to stay on your couch….
There is a part of nearly every contract entitled “Notice.” No one reads it, but everyone should. What is the Notice provision, how does it work and why does it matter? What is it? Every contract is its own little city-state. The language creates a set of rules about…
Contracts are the trip wire of deals. Here’s why. With legit business people, you can’t get started on the work or the payments until you sign the contract. Your contract is your reason to write down what has to get done, what has to get paid and by when….
Another opportunity for craven profiteers: drug testing. Another state made its hungry pass a drug test before it let them eat (because, apparently, people on drugs don’t deserve food). Turns out, 16,000 people peed in a cup and … 37 of them had drugs in their system. Now, many…
Getting ripped off by your manager is a fundamental and shameful part of Rock ‘n’ Roll history for many musicians. Add Sly Stone to the list. Beginning in 1976, he started signing his rights away to people he trusted. A jury has just decided that several of those trusted…
A disruptor has developed software that scans a contract to tell you what’s wrong with it. It’s billed as a solution for non-lawyers. Lawyers will freak, but that’s not why I like it. I like it because it could be a quality control tool for lawyers – like me…
There are 3 kinds of risks: the risk that you’ll get screwed or sued; the risk that you’ll get in a fight and the risk that you’ll lose the fight. These risks are ever present. The only way to avoid these risks completely is to stay on your couch….
Learn the different parts of a contract from the Beatles: Baby, you’re a rich man. Baby, you’re a rich man. Baby, you’re a rich man too.
This is a classic war story from first year contracts that shows the treachery cocktail of contracts and liquor. THE WAR: Lucy v. Zehmer Hardy and Ida Zehmer were a married couple living in Virginia in the 1950s. Together, they owned and operated a a bar, a gas station,…
I used to represent a now defunct hedge fund that had a whip smart general counsel. Her standards were high and she prized speed and competence. At one point, I was helping her get licenses to a bunch of algorithms. I drafted the first version of the license agreement,…
