the Zealous

A surprising number of agreements negotiated by the most sophisticated counsel in the transactional bar contain ambiguous terms simply because the use of such terms is considered market. ....
 
This is not necessarily because deal lawyers do not understand that they are doing this: many times deal dynamics simply do not permit the correction of these ambiguities. But there are other less appealing theories explaining the "herd" mentality of many within the transactional bar, as well as the resulting tendency of many transactional lawyers to become document processors rather than contract draftpersons.

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University researchers conducted a study of 543 participants (communication majors studying privacy, big data and surveillance issues) to measure the frequency and depth of online terms review and comprehension. The research was motivated by a desire to point out the fallacy of a privacy regulatory regime that relies exclusively on the notice-and-consent model.
 
The study authors used modified versions of LinkedIn's terms and policies. They asked the students to sign up to a fictitious social network, similar to LinkedIn, that the university, the students were told, had contracted with. The terms required the user to consent to the disclosure of data to the NSA and to "third parties [building] data products designed to assess eligibility", which, the terms state, "could impact … employment, financial service (bank loans, insurance, etc.), university entrance, international travel, and the criminal justice system."
 
The terms even obligated the user to turn over the user's first born child to the site owner.

Apropos of the recent announcement of Tim Kaine as Hillary's VP, here's an excerpt of a transcript from an April 2016 Senate hearing in which the Senator from Virginia is questioning the Defense Secretary on the legality of operations within Syria: 

"I am correct, am I not, that Syria has not invited us to conduct military operation within the nation of Syria?" Kaine asked Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

"You are correct," Carter responded. "But we do have lawyers."