The Law Series

Law as a mechanism rather than a mystique: what a contract actually does to you, what a patent claim actually claims, how a precedent binds a judge who disagrees with it, and what happens procedurally when somebody sues you. No advice, no verdicts, just the machinery. Part of Under the Hood.

What a Contract Actually Does

A signature is evidence that you agreed, not the thing that binds you. What binds you is an offer, an acceptance, something given by each side, and an intention to be bound, which is why a short email exchange can be a contract and a long signed document can fail to be one. The machinery of formation, and what "the contract" means when there are four documents and they disagree.

Coming soon