Contra proferentem

A rule that should strike fear into two sorts of people: those who are not good eggs, who do not heed the Latin maxim non mentula esse, and those whose command of the English language is flakey enough that they can’t write down, simply and clearly, what they mean.

Of course, the more an attorney mistrusts her own use of the language, the more convoluted she tends to make it (there’s nothing quite like a good flanneling to gloss over one’s literary shortcomings), and the more likely the contra proferentem rule is apt to step her in the face.

The presumption that a legal provision should be construed “contra proferentem” - against the person who offered it up - is only really likely to get in your hair if there is scope for misconstruing it. This is only likely if you’ve made it that way, through ineptitude or deceit.

Use your commas wisely, therefore. And be a good egg.

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