tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post5053755476010448329..comments2024-02-11T19:28:27.997+11:00Comments on Personal Reflections: Cognitive bias and the practice of lawJim Belshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-3034623755639701382011-06-09T20:36:23.863+10:002011-06-09T20:36:23.863+10:00Somehow I missed this at the time it was written -...Somehow I missed this at the time it was written - must have been a stressful time at uni or something.<br /><br />Yes, I agree with you. I know that lawyers often just use "boilerplate" agreements with all these silly clauses which are just overkill. I also agree that there's a failure of diagnostics on many occasions. You really need to test your client's assumptions, otherwise they just end up blaming you when it all goes pear-shaped.<br /><br />I would like to make a distinction, however, between "front-end" work (which seems to be what you and KVD are mainly discussing) and "back-end" work (when it all falls apart...i.e. litigation). I mostly did back-end work. The considerations for the two are different. But many "front-end" lawyers are thinking about the back end when they are drafting - hence all the strange clauses in contracts or the like. They want to cover every possibility if it ends up in court. This produces a problem, because that's not necessarily what is best for a client...Legal Eaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01096038577529334966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-70912631295568065232011-05-06T08:19:36.388+10:002011-05-06T08:19:36.388+10:00Hi again, KVD. I suspected that it was you! I hope...Hi again, KVD. I suspected that it was you! I hope today will be nice and relaxing with lots of writing!Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-59014224536254562632011-05-06T08:18:18.233+10:002011-05-06T08:18:18.233+10:00What a fascinating story, anon. That senior partne...What a fascinating story, anon. That senior partner was a wise man. <br /><br />A bit off topic, but in all the consulting work I've done over the years, by far the worst and most cumbersome contracts I've seen or had to deal with were in the Government sector. The concept so popular in Government of "best practice procurement" is a real oxymoron because those drafting the contracts did not really understand their purpose!Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-76754274633449471512011-05-06T08:09:59.669+10:002011-05-06T08:09:59.669+10:00Geez - all those words and forgot to add my monike...Geez - all those words and forgot to add my moniker, and wish you a lovely day!<br /><br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-39633956616081785682011-05-06T08:02:23.970+10:002011-05-06T08:02:23.970+10:00This is very interesting Jim.
I can relate some o...This is very interesting Jim.<br /><br />I can relate some of it to my own years of experience in negotiating with over a hundred different law firms for supply of my small firm's software. Very early in the piece we secured one of the largest law firms as a new client, and in follow up installation work I stumbled upon the timesheet attached to the review, rewording and approval of our own contract for services - a few thousands of dollars time charge. <br /><br />I discarded our standard (lawyer drafted) contract, thinking that surely most later firms would follow this new 'precedent' for our services. But we ended up with well over eighty different versions by the time I retired.<br /><br />It's interesting that the closest I ever got to mutual understanding and regard for any of these contracts was with the managing partner of another large firm, who after signing off, looked at me and said "if either of us has cause to ever review this agreement, we will both have a problem".<br /><br />That relationship lasted for over ten years until I retired, and fits my personal view of the importance of legal documentation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com