A Study of the Risks of Contract Ambiguity
Peking University Transnational law Review, vol. 2, issue 1, 2014, pp. 1-114
University of Chicago Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper No. 686
120 Pages Posted: 3 May 2014 Last revised: 17 May 2014
Date Written: May 1, 2014
Abstract
The article attempts to answer the question: What are the risks of ambiguity in contract drafting? It chooses one negotiated contract from the SEC's EDGAR database and performs a vey detailed ambiguity analysis of that contract. It finds that contract drafting has three ambiguity-related risks: the risk of an unanticipated event after the contract has become effective, the risk that a relevant provision in the contract will be found ambiguous, and the risk that the presumption of contra proferentem will apply to the interpretation of the ambiguous provision. The article is one practitioner's attempt to combine theory with practice and to appeal to practitioners, scholars, and judges who work with contracts.
Keywords: contracts, ambiguity, risk, contra proferentem, EDGAR, ejusdem generis, noscitur a sociis, reverse ejusdem generis, expressio unius
JEL Classification: K12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation