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[[Mediocre lawyer|Those]] who cherish the feel of {{tag|flannel}} close to their skin will take comfort in expressions like “[[all or substantially all]]”; “[[in whole or in part]]”, “[[one or more]]”; “[[unless otherwise agreed]]” . These expressions betray the fear that a judge reading your prose will take a perversely literal view, and construe your words deliberately to upset you; as the {{tag|Latin}}s say, “[[contra proferentem]]”. | [[Mediocre lawyer|Those]] who cherish the feel of {{tag|flannel}} close to their skin will take comfort in expressions like “[[all or substantially all]]”; “[[in whole or in part]]”, “[[one or more]]”; “[[unless otherwise agreed]]” . These expressions betray the fear that a judge reading your prose will take a perversely literal view, and construe your words deliberately to upset you; as the {{tag|Latin}}s say, “[[contra proferentem]]”. | ||
But the law of the land is not there to frustrate | But the law of the land is not there to frustrate honest commercial intentions. A court will only do that if a contracting merchant’s intentions are base (as, to be sure, many will be if the opportunity arises: Adam Smith had some choice things to say about that). A fellow who exploits {{sex|his}} counterparty’s vulnerability or patent misapprehension can expect to find the awesome creative weight of the common law – [[estoppel]], [[constructive trust]]; [[money had and received]], ''[[assumpsit]]'' – incanted against him. | ||
If that’s your caper, don’t expect words on paper, however exquisitely turned, to help you. | If that’s your caper, don’t expect words on paper, however exquisitely turned, to help you. | ||
But | But if it ''isn’t'' – if you act in [[good faith]], [[commercially reasonable manner|reasonably]], loving your [[neighbour]] as you love yourself; doing unto others only what you would have them do to you – you have little to fear from a literal construction. The common law is your friend. | ||
The {{tag|Latin}} maxim – ''[[anus matronae parvae malas leges faciunt]]'' (“little old ladies make bad law”), even though I made it up, may be the final, deepest foundation of the law of [[equity]]. It has a converse expression, also home made and converted into {{tag|Latin}} to make it sound plausible: [[non mentula esse]]: don’t be a dick. Be clear about what you want, [[be a good egg]] and you have little to fear from her majesty’s judiciary. [[Bonum ovum esse]], you know? | |||
It is true that [[common law]] formulated in the service of [[wronged spinsters]] presents later courts who are bound by it with hefty intellectual challenges, but no self respecting judge shies away from those – they’re what {{sex|she}} took the oath for in the first place. | It is true that [[common law]] formulated in the service of [[wronged spinsters]] presents later courts who are bound by it with hefty intellectual challenges, but no self respecting judge shies away from those – they’re what {{sex|she}} took the oath for in the first place. | ||