Legal Design and Ethics in Commercial Contracts

In my work as a lawyer, I have seen that contracts have become greatly comprehensive and complex. Frequently I have witnessed that lawyers are hesitant in deleting excessive clauses from contracts. Such a process, where clauses are added, or kept safeguarding, for even remote contingencies – but hardly ever any clauses are deleted -creates more compex contracting which is neither ethical nor sustainable. There exists a great need to modify commercial contracting with plain language, visuals and user-centred design to allow sustainable development. I am interested in understanding the impact of legal design in commercial contracting. Getting scientifically measured some of the various effects of legal design, will facilitate its use, as then procedures and decisions can be grounded with quantitative, empirical data. This discussion clarifies that we need law and economics to do the scientific measurement necessary for legal design to be seen as on the stage of science. In addition, it explains how the legal design approach can improve ethics and business sustainability. 

Learning outcomes:

• Why do we need law and economics to build the empirical framework

• What are the benefits and incentives to use legal design in commercial contracting

• How to measure the impact of legal design