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Memo to myself

On the subject of being a corporate lawyer, here is a lesson I've had to keep learning over and over again:

NEVER STOP READING.

Don't read just the first page of a document and conclude that it's not what you're looking for.
Don't breeze through a provision, assuming that it's identical to all the other provisions you've seen in the same type of agreement by the same party.
Do not ever skip a single word in an email or letter. In fact, read those three or four times.
When reading a provision in an agreement, read the entire section and skim the entire agreement.
When reading a statute, skim the entire chapter or at least look through the table of contents.

I read a haiku on someone's blog once (I thought it was googiebaba, who has demonstrated haiku talent, but couldn't find it on her blog) about how the writer was bored and exhausted, but must pay attention to every word, because that's her job.

Maybe writing it here will help it to finally sink in.

Full post as published by Magic Cookie on September 17, 2009 (boomark / email).