Simon Mills

Boilerplate terms restricting freedoms in composite transactions: some traps for the unwary

Entire agreement and no oral modification clauses are designed to promote contractual certainty. But far from guaranteeing that result, their inclusion in transactions implemented by multiple contractual documents can increase the risk of injustice by restricting the availability and operation of rectification and estoppel, even where the contractual documentation does not accord with the parties’ mutual dealings. This article explores how those risks arise so that drafters may seek to mitigate them.