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Side letter: Difference between revisions
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{{a|negotiation| | {{a|negotiation| | ||
[[File:Side letter.png|450px|thumb|center|[[Side letter]]: a real example found on the internet. | [[File:Side letter.png|450px|thumb|center|[[Side letter]]: a real example found on the internet.]] | ||
}}{{d|Side letter|/saɪd/ /ˈlɛtə/|n|}} <br> | }}{{d|Side letter|/saɪd/ /ˈlɛtə/|n|}} <br> | ||
A sort of dark inversion of a [[cocktail napkin]]. | A sort of dark inversion of a [[cocktail napkin]]. A binding legal agreement written in magic ink such that you can only see it when you look directly at it, which undermines the one everyone else can see, that is written in black and white. | ||
Another great [[canard]] in the pantheon of preposterous ways our learned friends go about finding ''[[consensus ad idem]]'', the side letter is an agreement that sits to the “side” of another, main agreement, and operates to undermine it utterly. | Another great [[canard]] in the pantheon of preposterous ways our learned friends go about finding ''[[consensus ad idem]]'', the side letter is an agreement that sits to the “side” of another, main agreement, and operates to undermine it utterly. | ||
The theory seems to be that since the side letter is somewhat out of plain sight, or points in a funny direction, or — I don’t know — is ''smaller'', or ''less important-looking'' than the main agreement it circumvents, that people can “get themselves [[comfortable]]” pretending the side letter is not ''formally'' there, while at the same time understanding that, substantially, it totally ''is'' there, and outrageously mocks the stated economic objective of the main razzle-dazzle agreement that everyone feels comfortable pretending ''is'' there when for most practical purposes, by the ministrations of the side letter, it | The theory seems to be that since the side letter is somewhat out of plain sight, or points in a funny direction, or — I don’t know — is ''smaller'', or ''less important-looking'' than the main agreement it circumvents, that people can “get themselves [[comfortable]]” pretending the side letter is not ''formally'' there, while at the same time understanding that, substantially, it totally ''is'' there, and outrageously mocks the stated economic objective of the main razzle-dazzle agreement that everyone feels comfortable pretending ''is'' there when, for most practical purposes, by the ministrations of the infernal side letter, it ''isn’t''. | ||
There is some kind of existential [[paradox]] here. You know how the JC loves a [[paradox]]. In the sense that they are cosmetic | There is some kind of existential [[paradox]] here. You know how the JC loves a [[paradox]]. In the sense that they are cosmetic artifacts, designed to give the appearance of one thing while delivering another, the [[JC]] denounces side letters as unbecoming things, with which no sensible [[legal eagle]] should have truck. But being a pragmatic fellow, he also recognises there will be times where a [[legal eagle]]’s [[ditch tolerance]] is not so great that she will go to the wall to ''avoid'' such truck. Look, no-one’s ''proud'' of a side letter — you don’t put an unusual facility with them on your CV, or write learned tomes about them,<ref>''Büchstein on Side Letters,'' 4th Ed. I can see it now.</ref> but sometimes you have to do what you have to do, you know? Life’s complicated. | ||
==Sensible uses for things that ''resemble'' side letters, but | ==Sensible uses for things that ''resemble'' side letters, but aren’t== | ||
There are ''some'' sensible applications for approaches that look like side letters — auxiliary agreements, call them — but they are far fewer and further between than the number of side letters one encounters in real-life. | There are ''some'' sensible applications for approaches that look like side letters — auxiliary agreements, call them — but they are far fewer and further between than the number of side letters one encounters in real-life. | ||
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*[[Amendment]] | *[[Amendment]] | ||
{{c|Paradox}} | {{c|Paradox}} | ||
{{ref}} | |||