The BUSKLAW Newsletter

'Tis the holiday season. Folks are hanging their Xmas stockings in the hope that S. Claus will fill them with goodies - not lumps of coal - on Xmas Eve. So let's see if your contracts contain troublesome legal jargon that serves no legal or business purpose - contractual lumps of coal.  As you sip your (hopefully fortified) eggnog and scarf down a holiday cookie (or better yet, a Marge's donut ), why not fire up your word-processing software, pull up a recent business contract or two, hit the "find" command, and enter the following words or phrases: "In consideration of" or "for good and valuable consideration"         This is a lump of coal because if there is no actual consideration  (e.g., money changing hands)  in your contract , merely reciting this phrase won't make your contract enforceable. The same analysis applies to the following common contractual phrase, "intending to be legally bound." (Tip of the hat to legal