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Paragraph numbering: Difference between revisions
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{{a|drafting|}}if you take your legal contracts seriously as a piece of code — not every lawyer does, and for some contracts there are reasons not to<ref>If it is a persuasive, [[commitment-signalling]] exercise like an [[NDA]] — no-one [''almost'' no-one — Ed] expects to actually enforce the literal terms of an NDA — rather than a careful prescription of precise rights and liabilities and clear economic options, as you might find in a financing or derivative contract</ref> — then treat it like code, and number and nest every new proposition as if it were a subroutine in a programme. | {{a|drafting|}}if you take your legal contracts seriously as a piece of code — not every lawyer does, and for some contracts there are reasons not to<ref>If it is a persuasive, [[commitment-signalling]] exercise like an [[NDA]] — no-one [''almost'' no-one — Ed] expects to actually enforce the literal terms of an NDA — rather than a careful prescription of precise rights and liabilities and clear economic options, as you might find in a financing or derivative contract</ref> — then treat it like code, and number and nest every new proposition as if it were a subroutine in a programme. | ||
====Number ''every'' paragraph==== | |||
===Number ''every'' paragraph=== | |||
Lawyers have a tendency to leave some paragraphs out of numbering schema. If a clause only has one subparagraph, or, if you have split into choices, where the paragraph rejoins there seems to be no option but to leave it without a number. | Lawyers have a tendency to leave some paragraphs out of numbering schema. If a clause only has one subparagraph, or, if you have split into choices, where the paragraph rejoins there seems to be no option but to leave it without a number. | ||
===Consistent numbering=== | ====Consistent numbering==== | ||
It should hardly need being said, but settle on a numbering schema and stick with it. | It should hardly need being said, but settle on a numbering schema and stick with it. | ||
===“Nested” statements=== | ====“Nested” statements==== | ||
Legal drafting is a form is code. It should have a nested structure, as does computer code. Numbering levels— each indented to be nested inside the level above — instantly reveal the of the agreement’s exoskeleton. | Legal drafting is a form is code. It should have a nested structure, as does computer code. Numbering levels— each indented to be nested inside the level above — instantly reveal the of the agreement’s exoskeleton. | ||
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Use as many numbering levels as you need to fully reveal, and ''label'', the logical structure of your document, bearing in mind that too many levels reveal prolixity and convolution in your drafting. Make sure your [[semantic structure]] is tight. | Use as many numbering levels as you need to fully reveal, and ''label'', the logical structure of your document, bearing in mind that too many levels reveal prolixity and convolution in your drafting. Make sure your [[semantic structure]] is tight. | ||
=== | ====Worked example: “bankruptcy”, with and without paragraph numbering==== | ||
To illustrate how much easier it is to navigate the text, consider the deal old definition of Bankruptcy in the {{isdama}}. Now you can’t entirely defeat the crushing torpor of the Squad’s turgid drafting but at least if you pick out its skeleton you can make it more digestible. | To illustrate how much easier it is to navigate the text, consider the deal old definition of Bankruptcy in the {{isdama}}. Now you can’t entirely defeat the crushing torpor of the Squad’s turgid drafting but at least if you pick out its skeleton you can make it more digestible. | ||