Throat clearing

Much of the text that comprises a modern financial services trading contract amounts to textual throat-clearing: filler to create heft and dispel the sinking feeling that what you might be up to by entering this binding legal arrangement might not be very much at all.

There are easy expressions to lob in which can make a simple sentence longer: from time to time; as the case may be; there are more complicated parentheticals of theoretically endless length, which add nothing “(for the avoidance of doubt ...)”; “(including without limitation ...)”; “(whether or not ...)”

There are more complicated disclaimers and statements of the negative which can occupy pages at a time, stating in definitive terms what the parties are not agreeing to. The classic example of this is the legal opinion, which is nothing but throat-clearing: a long and detailed limitation of its own liability which a law firm will charge you handsomely for preparing.

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