Contract language

BY MATTHEW D. MOHR

Generations ago, changes often occurred during the contract negotiations process which were not clearly explained or identified before signing Naturally, some parties involved took unfair advantage of the trusting and less informed The practice was basically abolished due to continued arguments and various court cases Most lawyers today are much more honest and few would make contractual changes without both parties’ knowledge Yet, with today’s easy technology, lawyers are not always involved with ever y contract. As a result of many business contracts being negotiated, written and entered into without competent legal advice, dishonesty in contract changes is resurfacing.

Along with uninformed contract language changes, “fine print” and much of the additional verbiage used to explain what is being agreed to also include errors and inconsistencies which are filled with ways to cheat the unsuspecting

On two occasions in the last year I have been presented with the “final” copy of a contract electronically