Common Mistakes in Contract Writing

Four of the most common mistakes when writing a contract are: not understanding the content, vagueness, ambiguity, and typographical errors. One common mistake is using free online resources without ensuring that they are appropriate for the circumstances. Just because it sounds official, a document generated by a computer algorithm may not be helpful.

It is always better to read the contract and ensure that it accurately reflects the parties’ agreement. Any mistakes in drafting go against the party who wrote the contract. In other words, if the contract is unclear, the party who did not write it gets the benefit of the doubt. The idea is that the party who wrote it should have done a better job, and the party who read and signed it should not be penalized as a result of someone else’s error.

When writing a contract, keep it simple and clear. It is also important to exclude provisions that are irrelevant to the contract. Contracts that are too long and contain irrelevant and contradictory terms are hard to understand. The best contracts are used as a reference between the parties during the period of performance. If a contract is too broad, too confusing, or contains too much irrelevant information, it hinders the effectiveness of the document.

Vagueness:

In the context of contracts, vagueness means the language is imprecise, uncertain, and not clearly expressed. Vagueness is problematic because it could mean that the parties did not have a meeting of the minds because they were not talking about the same things. Some business people think that keeping the contract “general” will facilitate a business transaction and that the details can be worked out later. However, if the parties are not in agreement up front, it is uncommon that things will work out smoothly later.

Another risk with vagueness is that it is not clear how a court will interpret the contract. If there are two or more reasonable interpretations, it is possible that the court will decide another interpretation is more reasonable. Again, mistakes in drafting are held against the drafter so if a court concludes that the vague term was a mistake, then it is hard to win in litigation.

Ambiguity:

In contracts, ambiguity means an uncertainty of meaning or intention. Ambiguities can be either patent or latent. A patent ambiguity is where the language of the contract itself creates uncertainty because it is contradictory. For example, a contract states two different sale prices.

A latent ambiguity exists where the uncertainty arises during the performance of the contract. For example, the contract states that goods will ship via a carrier that has a common name and could be referring to different carriers.

Typographical Errors:

Typographical errors are common in contracts. Some are harmless, some are embarrassing, and others are harmful. Although some typos are easy to ignore because they do not carry legal consequences, some can be fatal to the agreement. Minor errors are called scrivener’s errors. The scrivener’s error doctrine permits typographical errors in a written contract to be corrected when clear and convincing evidence exists that the mistake does not reflect the intent of the parties.

However, errors related to dates, price, quantity, legal names of individuals and entities, and property descriptions (such as addresses and lot numbers) may not qualify as scrivener’s errors. Such errors may be fatal to the contract or may be enforced with adverse consequences against one of the parties.