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Contract Interpretation Contract Drafting

Morgan Lewis - Tech & Sourcing

Law and Orders: Aligning Standard Ordering Documents with Corresponding Template Agreements

Commercial contracts are typically represented by two separate, yet equally important, components: the master agreement that contains primarily legal terms, and the ordering documentation that contains primarily commercial...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Limitation and Exclusion of Liability Clauses Under Quebec Law: Legal Guidance and Drafting Tips

The inclusion of limitation and exclusion of liability clauses in contracts entered into in Quebec requires an understanding of civil law and public order restrictions. Since the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruling in...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

L’influence des tribunaux sur les contrats : Survol de décisions récentes rendues par des cours d’appel et la Cour suprême

La jurisprudence canadienne récente influe sur l’approche que devraient adopter les rédacteurs de textes juridiques au moment de formuler des clauses contractuelles. Des décisions clés, notamment de la Cour suprême du Canada...more

ArentFox Schiff

Don’t Take Your Forum Selection Clause for Granted

ArentFox Schiff on

It seems like every few months I hear about a situation where a company can’t enforce a forum selection clause as anticipated because of how it was drafted. Recently, an individual named Sidharth Lakhani fell victim to this...more

Freeman Law

Is it Really Over? Contract Provisions that Survive Termination and Why.

Freeman Law on

Just like many relationships, not all parts of a contract become things of the past when they expire or terminate. One way to ensure that a contractual right or duty applies post-termination is to specify that will it...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Court’s Decision in High Stakes Case Cuts Through the “Fog of Dueling ‘Notwithstanding’ Clauses”

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

In a post I wrote about a dozen years ago, I quoted Ken Adams, blogger and author of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, who, commenting on the oft-used contract clause, “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals Restrictively Interprets Standard Government Release Language

The ASBCA restrictively interpreted standard release language in a government modification. In the Sauer Construction case, ambiguous release language couldn't bar a remediation claim, highlighting the need for clear...more

A&O Shearman

Disputes 101- Contractual interpretation: through the looking-glass

A&O Shearman on

If you draft contracts, you want to ensure, if there's ever a dispute, that the court agrees with your meaning. As a litigator, you will want the words to mean whatever your client wants them to mean. Either way, you need to...more

Sullivan & Worcester

Interpreting English Law Contracts: avoiding the bear traps

Sullivan & Worcester on

The importance of clear drafting cannot be overstated. Ambiguity of language can lead to disputes, costly litigation and unintended outcomes. The recent Court of Appeal judgment in Cantor Fitzgerald & Co v Yes Bank Ltd [2024]...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Overview of Three Recent Decisions on the Interpretation of Contractual Clauses

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

English courts will seek to determine the objective meaning of a contractual provision when a dispute as to its interpretation arises. The starting point is the ordinary meaning of the words in the agreement but as and when...more

Barnea Jaffa Lande & Co.

Israeli Contracts Law Proposed Amendment – How Dramatic Is It?

The Israeli Ministry of Justice recently published a memorandum of law amending the Contracts Law, which seeks to add unique rules of interpretation to business contracts. In the economic press, we saw dramatic headlines...more

Morgan Lewis - Tech & Sourcing

Take Care to Avoid Ambiguity When Using Template Liability Provisions

It is often appealing for businesses that are under pressure to get contracts signed to turn to template documents. While these templates can be very convenient, it is imperative, especially with regard to liability...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The Basics of Contract Interpretation: A Primer for Non-Lawyers in the Construction Industry

Every first year law student in the U.S. takes a course on the Law of Contracts. It’s a rite of passage where lawyers-to-be learn all about things like consideration and legally-enforceable promises. And as lawyers, we also...more

Goldberg Segalla

Risk Transfer, Employer Liability and Grave Injuries: Who Is Going to Pay?

Goldberg Segalla on

There are four basic causes of action involved in pursuing risk transfer. Two based upon contractual requirements which are known as Contractual Indemnification and Insurance Procurement, and two based upon the common law...more

A&O Shearman

It’s not you, it’s me: relational contract to be interpreted like all others

A&O Shearman on

The Court of Appeal has (thankfully) confirmed there are no special rules of interpretation when it comes to relational contracts. This was a dispute about whether Quantum Actuarial had to do what was necessary to...more

A&O Shearman

A cautionary tale of the importance of keeping track of changes

A&O Shearman on

A recent Scottish case involving a dispute over the calculation of the purchase price under a share purchase agreement highlights the importance of ensuring that definitions (and other terms in an agreement) accurately...more

Ward and Smith, P.A.

When Is a Deal a Deal?

Ward and Smith, P.A. on

Oftentimes, individuals attempt to negotiate deals on their own without the benefit of legal advice and assistance. At best, this can lead to certain pitfalls. At worst, this can lead to the complete invalidity of the...more

Allen Matkins

Howsoever Denominated, This Was Not Promissory Fraud

Allen Matkins on

Parties exchange drafts of a contract and before signing one party surreptitiously substitutes provisions in the copy to be executed.  Some might call this "promissory fraud", but as Justice William Dato explains in an...more

A&O Shearman

Bacardi guaranteed or indemnified to breeze through contractual interpretation

A&O Shearman on

Once again the court looks at the vexed question of the distinction between a guarantee and an indemnity....more

Littler

Supreme Court of Canada Clarifies Duty to Exercise Contractual Discretion in Good Faith

Littler on

In 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) heard arguments in Wastech Services Ltd. v. Greater Toronto Sewage and Drainage District, 2021 SCC 7 (Wastech) and C.M. Callow Inc. v. Zollinger, 2020 SCC 45 (Callow), both of which...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Bouncing Back January 28, 2021 | Issue No. 20 - English Courts Consider Material Adverse Effect Clause Invoked by the Effects of...

In the recent case of Travelport Ltd v Wex Inc [2020] EWHC 2670 (Comm) (the “Travelport Case”), the High Courts of England considered the construction of a material adverse effect clause (“MAE Clause”) in which a party sought...more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court Deems Continuous Development Clause Ambiguous

Gray Reed on

In Endeavor Energy Resources, L.P. v. Energen Resources Corp. et al. the Supreme Court of Texas construed a continuous development clause in an oil and gas lease covering 11,300 acres in Howard County. After the primary term,...more

A&O Shearman

Judge hadn't erred by referring to pre-contractual negotiations

A&O Shearman on

The Court of Appeal has briefly considered the old chestnut of the admissibility of pre-contractual negotiations as an aid to interpreting an agreement: Morris Homes v Cheshire West and Chester Council....more

Goodwin

English Court Rules On COVID-19 Material Adverse Effect In M&A Transaction

Goodwin on

On 12 October 2020, the Commercial Court handed down judgment in the first case in which the English courts have had to consider whether COVID-19 resulted in a material adverse effect (“MAE”) (Travelport Ltd & Ors v WEX Inc...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

WEX Win Interpreting COVID-19 Material Adverse Effect Shows M&A Drafting Traps

On October 12, 2020, in Travelport Ltd & Ors v WEX Inc [2020] EWHC 2670, Justice Cockerill of the English High Court held that WEX had in large part correctly interpreted the terms of the material adverse effect (MAE) clause...more

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