'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 ...
Attorney Chadwick C. Busk's monthly blog/newsletter for business professionals, including information technology executives, with occasional asides to comment-worthy topics. These posts are intended to inform and entertain; I earn no revenue from them.