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Lawyers have a primal fear of the unsaid. They see it as not a dark, formless void but an uncharted black ocean stretching to a distant horizon, teeming with whirlpools, leviathans, madmen and [[little old ladies]]; a brain-addling cosmos of unfathomable dimension: brimming with implied covenants, [[constructive knowledge]], unarticulated [[warranty|warranties]], unspoken [[waiver]]s, ineffable [[course of prior dealing|courses of prior dealing]], [[deemed]] [[joint venture|joint ventures]], [[fiduciary duty|fiduciary duties]]; shot through with open-ended [[equitable indemnities]]<ref>NB: I made this up for satirical purposes, but as ever, fact is stranger that fiction. [http://vondranlegal.com/what-is-definition-of-equitable-idemnity/ Californian law recognises an equitable indemnity].</ref> for any kind of stupidity in which your counterparty might, while carrying out its end of your bargain, indulge.  
Lawyers have a primal fear of the unsaid. They see it as not a dark, formless void but an uncharted black ocean stretching to a distant horizon, teeming with whirlpools, leviathans, madmen and [[little old ladies]]; a brain-addling cosmos of unfathomable dimension: brimming with implied covenants, [[constructive knowledge]], unarticulated [[warranty|warranties]], unspoken [[waiver]]s, ineffable [[course of prior dealing|courses of prior dealing]], [[deemed]] [[joint venture|joint ventures]], [[fiduciary duty|fiduciary duties]]; shot through with open-ended [[equitable indemnities]]<ref>NB: I made this up for satirical purposes, but as ever, fact is stranger that fiction. [http://vondranlegal.com/what-is-definition-of-equitable-idemnity/ Californian law recognises an equitable indemnity].</ref> for any kind of stupidity in which your counterparty might, while carrying out its end of your bargain, indulge.  


Any of these forensic succubi may spark and crackle afire without warning should your [[incantation|magic incantations]] not ward them off. Just as vampire hunters have their wooden stakes, potions of garlic and vials of holy water, we lawyers have our [[disclaimer]]s: they are our shield and sword, universally effective against this terrifying void of nothingness. The safest way, so the thinking goes, to ensure something is ''not'' on the record is, fairly and squarely, to put it there, in terms as unequivocal, comprehensive and impenetrable as you can make them.  
Any of these forensic succubi may spark and crackle afire without warning should your [[incantation|magic incantations]] not ward them off. Just as [[vampire]] hunters have their [[wooden stake]]s, potions of [[garlic]] and vials of holy water, we [[lawyer]]s have our [[disclaimer]]s: they are our shield and sword, universally effective against this terrifying void of nothingness. The safest way, so the thinking goes, to ensure something is ''not'' on the record is, fairly and squarely, to put it there, in terms as unequivocal, comprehensive and impenetrable as you can make them.  


Thus, a [[disclaimer]] fills this unspoken septic hinterland with calming doggerel intended to dampen, insulate and inoculate those empty spaces, like so many polystyrene chips in a mail-order carton.  
Thus, a [[disclaimer]] fills this unspoken septic hinterland with calming doggerel intended to dampen, insulate and inoculate those empty spaces, like so many polystyrene chips in a mail-order carton.