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The BUSKLAW January Newsletter: Catching Typographical Errors in Contracts

“Career Path” is an overused term to describe how we should conduct our professional lives to reach our full potential. In my experience, most self-help books on this subject assume that we have more control over our lives than we actually do. The old adage, “Man proposes, God disposes,” is not evident in these books. And yet there are ways for contracts lawyers to reach their full potential - how about by catching those pesky typographical errors ("typos")? 

 Is there anything more rewarding to a contracts lawyer than catching a typographical error? Of course not. I once did a long and complicated real estate license agreement, only to have my client point out the fact that on page 39, section 1, paragraph A, subsection (i), clause (z) of the contract I drafted, the word “thee” should be “the.” I can’t tell you enough about the warm fuzzy feeling that this observation created in the depths of my soul! 

 At best, typographical errors are embarrassing and have only minimal substantive impact on the contract; at  worst, they can create ambiguity that may engender a dispute. So the truth is that typos matter. 

There is evidence that the contracts lawyer who catches typos is rock star - lawyer material, as shown in this short (documentary?) video from the folks at bitterlawyer.com: 




The unfortunate side effect is that catching typos isn’t sexy. And non-lawyers may have trouble understanding what the fuss is all about. 

 Here's my strategy for detecting and removing typos:
  • Don't look for typos on your computer screen. Print out the document and look for them on paper. Studies show that we retain more of what we read on paper compared to what we read on a computer screen. 
  • Use your word processor's spell checker but beware that it may not accurately show whether the words flagged are in fact typos. Or as in the "the" vs. "thee" example above, your spell checker may think that "thee" is not a typo. 
  • Review the document for typos, do something else for at least a few hours, and then review it again. One read-through of the document is not enough to detect errors. As any writer will tell you, it is important to set aside your work and let it become fresh in your mind before you read it again. 
  • There is no shame in correcting a typo or two if discovered by your client - or the opposite party. A sure way to win brownie points in negotiating with the other side is to respectfully point out a typo in the contract that they drafted. 
Whether you are a contracts lawyer (with or without rock star aspirations) or a business person who works with contracts, a good - but not romantic - new year resolution for 2016 is to redouble your efforts to stamp-out typos. 


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