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But our dark secret: much of what we do, to get to those subliminal moments of rarefied artistry, we do on autopilot. To win ''Le Mans'', first keep the engine tuned, the tank filled and the tyres pumped up. ''Then'' drive like Stirling Moss. | But our dark secret: much of what we do, to get to those subliminal moments of rarefied artistry, we do on autopilot. To win ''Le Mans'', first keep the engine tuned, the tank filled and the tyres pumped up. ''Then'' drive like Stirling Moss. | ||
[[boilerplate|Boilerplate]] is the spark-plugs and fan belts of legal machine: workaday engineering that makes stuff go. What we want from it is ''reliability''. | [[boilerplate|Boilerplate]] is the spark-plugs and fan belts of legal machine: workaday engineering that makes stuff go. It is system 1: fast thinking: coded, compiled, engineered into the foundation. What we want from it is ''reliability''. it cannot ''win'' us the race, but it can help stop us ''losing'' it, by working dependably without breaking down. | ||
“Working” means “going in easily” — without argument — and “being commonly understood”; at the limit, being able to withstand scrutiny before the [[King’s Bench Division]], though categorically ''not'' being [[written for a judge]]. | “Working” means “going in easily” — without argument — and “being commonly understood”; at the limit, being able to withstand scrutiny before the [[King’s Bench Division]], though categorically ''not'' being [[written for a judge]]. | ||
That quality is not intrinsic to the boilerplate itself, but is a function of ''what the community thinks it means''. [[There is an emergent strength in consensus]]: if everyone uses it, it is more effective, by itself, regardless of the cleverness of its engineering. Law is a sociological phenomenon, first and foremost. Everyone knows that “in the [[public domain]]” means “public”. No-one would ever take that point.<ref>The [[doyen of drafting]] is ''not'' no-one, obviously.</ref> Not, at least, as far as court. | |||
We should therefore regard boilerplate as a ''public resource''. A utility. We should not [[Rent extraction|extract rent]] from it | We should therefore regard boilerplate as a ''public resource''. A utility. Not special sauce, not an ''asset'', not “part of the magic”. We should not [[Rent extraction|extract rent]] from it. Lawyers don’t help anyone, or nourish their own souls, by acing boilerplate. | ||
So, folks, let it go. ''Set your boilerplate free''. | So, folks, let it go. ''Set your boilerplate free''. | ||
{{maxim|The quotidian is a utility, not an asset}}. | {{maxim|The quotidian is a utility, not an asset}}. | ||