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It doesn't matter if the nonsense provisions are ultimately enforceable, so long as they're credible enough to be litigated. The courts provide a battlefield w
by rectang 8y ago
It doesn't matter if the nonsense provisions are ultimately enforceable, so long as they're credible enough to be litigated. The courts provide a battlefield where the army of company lawyers will fight you in a lopsided war of attrition that ends with your financial ruin. Might makes right.
- evandijk70 8y agoSeems like there should be a fine for putting unenforcable clauses into contracts to discourage this practice
- rectang 8y agoI agree, but I think your perspective on this depends on who you think the courts are supposed to serve. In the US, courts enabling wealthy corporations to smash individual citizens into meat paste are working as intended. It is "justice for sale", albeit indirectly -- you don't pay the judge, you pay for enough lawyering to destroy the opponent, win or lose.
- marcoperaza 8y agoLegal questions are rarely truly settled. You might think a clause is unenforceable based on some lower court rulings in your state, but a different lower court could is still free to rule the other way, an appeals court could still overturn, a federal court could overrule the state courts on a Contract Clause theory, etc. And even in the rare case where there is an on-point US Supreme Court ruling, the Supreme Court is free to reverse itself tomorrow. Also, consider that you and I are free to agree to anything we want, enforceable or not. All that enforceability tells you is whether a court will be willing to intervene. For example, we can agree that you will donate a million dollars to my foundation, but a court will likely not enforce that because I didn't give you anything in exchange (the doctrine of consideration).