Contract Drafting Tip

When drafting business contracts, try to avoid using “and/or” at all costs. There are at least six different ways of construing a contract clause featuring “and/or,” so you are not doing yourself (or a judge trying to interpret your contract) any favors by including such an ambiguous term. If the applicable provision includes two alternatives (A and/or B), then just write “A or B or both” instead of “and/or”; if the provision includes more than two alternatives, then use “any combination of A or B or C”. A primary goal of contract drafting is clarity and simplicity.