For lawyers drafting contracts, there's a quite-legitimate, signaling-related reason for "doing the duck." By giving the other side's contract reviewer somethi

For lawyers drafting contracts, there's a quite-legitimate, signaling-related reason for "doing the duck." By giving the other side's contract reviewer something to object to and revise, it lets her demonstrate to her boss that she did her job competently. For example, she can then report to her boss (or client), "they wanted net 15 days payment terms but I made them change it to net 30; otherwise it was an OK contract." That in turn can help get the contract out of legal review, and into the signature process, more quickly. This is sort of related to the story about Van Halen's concert contract that required a bowl of M&Ms in the dressing room with all brown M&Ms removed. [1] [1] http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.asp http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.asp