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four
or five lines of longhand
A
number of years ago, our company was approached by a leading
NHL hockey player who wanted us to represent him...
There
was only one small problem, the athlete was already under
contract to another agent. ...he handed over a single sheet
of paper.
My
response was: Great, no problem. How serious a commitment
could possibly be indicated by four or five lines of longhand?
The
thing didn't even look like a contract. All it said,
in paraphrase, was that "I, _______,
hereby agree that XYZ Agency can represent me exclusively
with respect to my business activities throughout the world
for a period of five years beginning January 1, _____, and
that I will pay a commission of 25% of my gross income for
this service." Period.
I
passed this contract along to our legal department, asking
their advice as to how the agreement might be voided.
They
told me there was no way it could be. The contract was perfectly
legitimate, binding and about as airtight as any contract
ever is.
I
wondered why, if this haiku held up fine under legal
scrutiny, it was impossible for me to ever get anything
so short and concise out of my lawyers. That as I said
was some years ago, and I'm still wondering!
The
seeming impossibility of getting anything short and fast
out of a lawyer drives me, and I think most business people,
crazy.
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