The BUSKLAW Newsletter

OK, class (as in budding students of contracts and astute readers). Launch your word processing or Adobe ™  Acrobat Reader software and open one of your longer business contracts. Pull up the text "find" feature and search for the following three contractual phrases: best efforts  commercially reasonable efforts   reasonable efforts  Do you have any hits? Regardless, have you ever wondered what these phrases mean? Whether you are on the receiving or giving end of these "efforts" provisions, you should know what you're in for!  The short answer is not a lot. But keep reading .  Many contracting-drafting lawyers are enamored by these phrases. If their client is on the giving end of a contractual duty, they use "commercially reasonable efforts" to perform that duty. But if their client is on the receiving end of a contractual duty, they will argue for a supposedly higher performance standard: "best efforts." But in the words...