To the fullest extent permissible by law: Difference between revisions

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-It won’t be long in the life of a young [[Mediocre lawyer|lawyer]] before {{sex|she}} comes across this delightful [[subordinate clause]]:
+{{a|drafting|{{image|Maximum extent permissible by law|png}}Unknown before 1978, this ghastly phrase has flourished in the intervening years. Source: Google]]}}It won’t be long in the life of a young [[Mediocre lawyer|lawyer]] before {{sex|she}} comes across this delightfully {{f|flannel}}led [[subordinate clause]]:
-''[[To the maximum extent permissible by law]],...''
+{{quote|
+''The Issuer [[to the fullest extent permissible by law]], accepts no liability for the contents of this prospectus...''}}
-She might pause briefly, on that first fumbling encounter, and wonder what legal mischief this [[incantation]] is [[calculated]] to ward off. Is the default position that any legal provision is deemed to be half-hearted in its effect: a choked nine-iron back onto the fairway from behind a tree, and not a full-throated drive at the green?
+{{sex|She}} might pause briefly, on that first fumbling encounter, and wonder what legal mischief this [[incantation]] is [[calculated]] to ward off. Does the law assume that any contractual provision is [[deemed]], unless you say to the contrary, to be half-hearted in its intent — a choked nine-iron back onto the fairway from behind a tree, and not a full-throated drive at the green?
-God only knows, is this commentator’s remark. but a bit of research suggests that the crafty devil who introduced this graim expression to the forensic world plied his trade in the late nineteen seventies. And as you'll see, it has flourished since its introduction.
+God only knows, is this commentator’s remark. Actually, let’s face facts: God probably doesn’t know ''either''.
-[[File:Maximum extent permissible by law.png|400px|thumb|right|Unknown before 1978, this ghastly phrase has flourished in the intervening years]]
+But a bit of research suggests that this gem found its way into the forensic world some time in the late 1970s. And as you’ll see to the right<ref>Original file [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=maximum+extent+permissible+by+law&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cmaximum%20extent%20permissible%20by%20law%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2Cmaximum%20extent%20permissible%20by%20law%3B%2Cc1 here]</ref>, it has flourished since its introduction.
-{{plainenglish}}
+The lilly-liveredness of the statement makes us shudder.
+We know for certain that no-one saw fit to make this remark ''before'' the 1970s. What is it about the modern world that makes a [[legal eagle]] worry so? Does it not, subliminally, sent a contrary message: “I am ''saying'' I accept no responsibility but, tacitly, I suppose I realise, at some level, I probably do. You know, that old devil “the law’s fullest extent” might hunt me down and get me.”
+Whereas consider the simpler, bolder statement: “''The Issuer accepts '''no''' liability for this prospectus. None at all. FULL STOP love and kisses xox''”
+This leaves those disposed to vexatious litigation in no doubt where they stand.
+“Okay, okay, I ''get'' it. You aren’t responsible. ''Jesus''. Calm ''down'' already.”
+Now, should it transpire that the fullest extent of the law does ''not'' allow the Issuer off a hook to which the law’s gentler passages might have turned a blind eye — we quite like the idea there are lazy stretches further down the legal river that aren’t as wild as its farthest reaches, by the way —  then investors will get the benefit of that full extent, however fulsome or terse the Issuer’s disclaimer.
+So what does the Issuer gain by tempering its disclaimer with this “fullest extent” vacillation?
+As do so many of the hypotheticals posed in these pages, we suppose this one too will turn out to be a rhetorical question.
+{{sa}}
+*[[I never said you couldn’t]]
+{{ref}}