The keys to any contract's1 success are:
1.) the exchange of consideration, and
2.) that the parties, and a reasonable third party (the anticipated but unknown audience - usually a judge or bureaucrat) can understand exactly what the bargain is with little effort.
As expert business and technical writers we express the parties' intentions and bargain better than most lawyers we know. (We’ve seen mountains of lawyer writing – little of it is top-notch.) In fact, some of our best clients are lawyers and law firms who want clutter-free, user-friendly business documents. Our job is to clearly state all operative terms and define a set of promises, so that duties (who's going to do what), conditions, or breach are easily recognized and understood.
We never use the following legalese - “whereas”, “therefore”, “notwithstanding”, “heretofore”, “foregoing”, “herein”, “hereby”, “in no event”, “including, but not limited to”, “thereafter”, “including without limitation”, “to the extent”, “in the event”, “covenants and agrees”, “subject to the provisions hereof”, “shall be binding”, “hereunder”, “hereinafter referred to as”, “without limiting the foregoing”, “shall” (unless used to mean – ‘has a duty to’).
If you want business agreements without this mind-numbing garbage, you’ve come to the right place. As expert writers we won’t compromise our dignity or your effectiveness by using cumbersome or useless words and phrases. If any lawyer tells you these words are necessary to a contract's validity or utility, run screaming.
