¶ … Tips for Contracts
The first greatest contributor to a contract dispute is that of ambiguous language, or failure to address all possible situations. The second greatest contributor to contract disputes is ambiguity in the situations that are addressed. Thus, the parties agreeing to a contract must not leave key terms undefined such as price or performance or means of exchange. They also, for their own welfare and to reduce chances of legal disputes in court, must consider as many possibilities as possible that may result.
Both potential contractual deficits are reasons why it is so important to use the clearest and simplest English possible when drafting an agreement, rather than obscure legal jargon. However, since some legal terminology is inevitable, a letter of intent that defines the clear objective of the contract, so the minutia of the language cannot be used to twist the wording of the contract to fulfill an intent that unintended by the contract's design is wise. What might be included...
Certain tips given are ambiguous and quite open to interpretation, such as performance of the parties in question, as it relates to the quality of the product, and these elements may be applicable to different types of contracts more than others. Other such tips, such as enforcement, are extremely important, so that if one of the parties reneges on the contract, redress can be obtained.
Ambiguity cannot be used against one of the parties, however -- if something is unstated, assumptions cannot be made regarding the parties' behavior. However, an integration clause says that no previous oral agreements can be…
