4 ms·

I find being a programmer helps me with reading law. A lot of the time it's just a bunch of if this than that statements.

• Lawtonfogle 11y ago
  The problem is the function calls to the poorly documented API and some weird redefinitions of commons words. My go to example is affirming an appeal, which actually means rejecting an appeal, even though in normal language affirm and reject are basically opposites.
  • deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
• TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  >A lot of the time it's just a bunch of if this than that statements. Until you get to corporate and contract law, then it's just a bunch of if this then that statements with subtle unstated implications. You could almost say that the entire point of corporate and contract law is for one party to disguise intent, forcing the other party to hire a lawyer to try to divine the intent. Not all consumer terms-of-service are quite so devious, because sometimes the intent is simple minimisation of risk and legal ass covering to avoid opportunistic sue-age. But in high powered negotiations you'd better believe the other party doesn't necessarily have your best interests at heart, and a naive reading of terms can do you a lot of damage.
  • walterbell 11y ago
    Thanks for the insight. Would you say that VC term sheets fall into this category?
    • TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
      Often yes. You need someone with experience and insight to go through them and point out what the terms really mean.