Wisconsin Business Law and Litigation
A blog dedicated to Wisconsin business law and business litigation matters, authored by Chris Moander of the Moander Law Firm.

Drafting contracts of any kind sounds simple, but is in fact far from it. Ask Mr. Adams and Mr. Fox - contract drafting is about precision usage of the english language in such a way that an agreement can be read in one and only one way. Such usage is a very lofty goal, but is essential to good agreements.

However, a meeting of the minds is not the only facet of reaching an agreement. Hanna Hasl-Kelchner at Legal Literacy points out that cultural, geographical, and even regional differences can and will impact the contract formation process. She cites a WSJ article on the matter. Several points in the article are particularly relevant to smaller business, specifically the regional differences in the U.S. (which are significant).

Yes, businesses across the U.S. operate under very similar contract laws, but we also have very different notions of how to boil a relationship down to an agreement. I can recall people I knew growing up in Iowa who would more than willingly rely on a handshake based on local theories of doing business (essentially the terms and concepts local farmers used in doing business with each other). Everyone in the area “got it.” Outsiders, such as representatives from large multinationals based in a major city or another region, would have notions that differed from the locals, creating a potential for misunderstanding. This situation may sound like it needs a run-of-the-mill contract negotiation, but I disagree. What is missing here is understanding and education of both sides as to the background and experiences of the other - the key to reaching precision terms and a meeting of the minds. Other examples could be the “northerner” doing business with the “southerner,” or the L.A. company selling goods to the N.Y. company - the variations are numerous.

The business lawyer needs to be more than just the contract expert. She needs to do her cultural research, keep her ears and mind open, and ask questions. In other words, the business lawyer needs to constitute the complete package of law and business.

UPDATE: I just came across a blog that addresses cultural issues for lawyers, albeit in a litigation context.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 11:47 am and is filed under Business Litigation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.