Boilerplates blasted

Lawyers who use “bits of legal boilerplate, bolted together” in commercial contracts have been attacked by a deputy High Court judge. In Oxonica Energy v Neuftec, Peter Prescott QC said the parties had entered into a licence agreement that contained a phrase which was “exceedingly hard to interpret.” The result, he said, was “business uncertainty and costly litigation”. The secret of drafting legal documents, he said, was best described by the 17th century poet and lawyer, Nicolas Boileau: “Ce que l’on conçoit bien s’énonce clairement et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisément”. This translates as “what one conceives well can be stated with clarity and the words to say it come easily”. “We should all have that framed and displayed on our desks,” said the judge.