Help on writing legal document.

[Ksandra]

Ok so my boss seems to think that since I am an English tutor, that means I know how to write everything...including legal documents...which is retarded to say the least. I know very little about writing up things like Bills of Sales, leasing contracts, etc. Anyways she keeps pestering on helping the company she is working for on the side. SO I figured i'd coe to BG to see if anyone has knowledge on this stuff.


Here is the deal:

She works for a Orchid Nursery on the side. Some people in NY want to order one of their plants, but wants to do normal shipping. Since it is the winter season the owners suggested faster shipping because the plant might not survive, but the customers refuse. SO, they want something that the customer basically signs to say that if the plant arrives dead, then the Nursery will not be held responsible, and they cannot receive a refund/credit/replacement/etc.

I've been looking at sites that offer generic legal documents but nothing seems to quite fit this description. My boss doesn't seem to want to take no for an answer cause like I said I'm an English tutor so she can't seem to see how there's a difference, and just wants me to quickly "draft something up" which I'm not comfortable with. (FYI she is mostly a Chinese speaker and her English grammar really fails so she thinks I can make it sound more official.)

I'd really rather not make one up because, again, I know little about this area. Hopefully someone here knows how the letter should be written.

[Senoska]

If the plant arrives dead, then the Nursery will not be held responsible, and they cannot receive a refund/credit/replacement/etc.

I am pretty sure that's all the needs to be said.

[Ksandra]

I am pretty sure that's all the needs to be said.

Doesn't exactly sound official

looking for something like this:


Payment for the Goods will be made to the Seller when the Purchaser is notified that the Goods have been delivered by the Seller to a carrier for shipment to the Purchaser or, in the alternative, when any document of title or registrable bill of sale, bearing any necessary endorsement, is tendered to the Purchaser.


That's just about payments though, but that's the style I need it in.

[jmc]

I am pretty sure that's all the needs to be said.

Pretty much.........

it doesnt really need to be some legal jumbo on the subject.

All you have to include, would be.

"This form is to provide proof, that the buyer is requesting standard shipping for (insert item)."

"Buyer realizes that this request could have adverse affects on the purchased item, including damage to said product and death of said item."

"By signing this documentation, buyer agrees to not seek damages against the seller if plant arrives in unsatisfactory conditions"


Just throw something like that around, fax it to buyer and have him/her sign it and fax it back.

[Kwijiboe]

Just keep it nice and concise. It avoids misinterpretation between you and the consumer.

However, I don't think a letter is even necessary. If the customer refused faster shipping, it's out of the nursery's hands.

If the customer receives the plant and it's alive, great. If the customer receives the plant dead, the customer was warned. Convince your boss/store owner to instead draft up a store policy in regards to this matter. Don't hand out a letter, especially if you can't prove that it is store policy for shipping--a letter will look like you are making an exception for just one customer.. which may lead the customer to think that they are being treated unfairly. In other words, if the customer complains, it's the 'store policy' not an 'exception' for this one order.

It's a strategy a lot of stores use: "Sorry, that's store policy." Ship out the policy with the order and you're set.

Additionally, a letter that is sent to the customer to sign will likely just result in a loss of a sale and/or misinterpretation.

[Aerides]

If I'm that shop owner, I either say no sale, or I toss in the extra bucks myself to make sure the plant arrives safe. If there's a real risk I wouldn't want to send something out and have to worry about a form to cover my ass - and for what profit?

If it's a very high priced orchid, it's worth it to just make sure it gets there safe rather than not. Time > Money, if you're going to this much trouble it's probably not worth it - customer will still bitch no matter what they sign if it's DOA. And orchids don't die right away - the damage will show up weeks later usuallyu.

[Ksandra]

Pretty much.........

it doesnt really need to be some legal jumbo on the subject.

All you have to include, would be.

"This form is to provide proof, that the buyer is requesting standard shipping for (insert item)."

"Buyer realizes that this request could have adverse affects on the purchased item, including damage to said product and death of said item."

"By signing this documentation, buyer agrees to not seek damages against the seller if plant arrives in unsatisfactory conditions"


Just throw something like that around, fax it to buyer and have him/her sign it and fax it back.

I ended up writing something similar to this. I am just being asked to help out for a comapny I don't work for, so can't really argue whether or not they should do it. I just wanted to make sure it sounded right. XD Hopefully they won't have any issues @@;

[Elesirdur]

From a larger business point of view, I completely agree with Aerides. The ONLY shipping option that you business should be offering is one that will allow your produce to arrive in a safe and timely manner.

However, it would be worthwhile putting something like this in your online ordering forms, as well as on your paper bills of sale:

"By signing this bill of sale I, the buyer, agree to and understand that the products being sold by XYZ Ltd. are of organisms of fragile and delicate nature. Furthermore, the buyer agrees not to seek damages against the seller, XYZ Ltd., in the event that, during shipping by a third party, products arrive in a damaged or unsatisfactory manner, or the product arrives no longer alive or able to germinate. (The clauses you should think of specifically for your plants)

XYZ Ltd. takes all planning and precautions necessary regarding the preparation, packaging, and shipping of our products to ensure that they will arrive intact, alive, and healthy to the buyer's specified shipping address. However, should the buyer act not in accordance with the seller's recommendations, then the buyer agrees that the seller, XYZ Ltd., is not liable and absolved of all responsibilities regarding the safety and health of its products upon arrival."

Just something off the top of my head, but I would highly recommend getting professional legal advice on this manner. It's entirely possible that within your State there are statutes or regulations regarding the liability of companies with regards to the shipping of merchandise, or even laws specifically about the sale, trade, or transport of flowers.

Edit: Something else to add. Providing legal advice to another party, be it an individual or a legal person (ie. an incorporated company), when you are not authorized to do so by your county or state - ie. not being a member of the Bar, Law Society, Notary, etc that is enabled, by law, to say who can practice law in your jurisdiction - may actually be unlawful and you could be held personally liable for unlicensed practice of law or providing unsound legal advice. This is highly unlikely, but almost every nation state with a legal code has laws against the unlicensed or unauthorized practice of law or providing of legal advice.

[Stumblingdrunk]

However, I don't think a letter is even necessary. If the customer refused faster shipping, it's out of the nursery's hands.

No

Convince your boss/store owner to instead draft up a store policy in regards to this matter. Don't hand out a letter, especially if you can't prove that it is store policy for shipping--a letter will look like you are making an exception for just one customer.. which may lead the customer to think that they are being treated unfairly

No, while creating a store policy at this point might be good for future reference, just making one up now will be of no help in this case. Assuming the purchase was already made and at this point we're just negotiating shipping, said policy was neither in existence at the time the sale was made nor did the policy exist in any place that the customer could see it, and or be aware of it. Customers on separate sides of the country, are in fact, different, there is nothing wrong or discriminatory in treating them as such.

Additionally, a letter that is sent to the customer to sign will likely just result in a loss of a sale and/or misinterpretation.

Its worth the risk


Listen to JMC only replace the language in "This form is to provide proof, that the buyer is requesting standard shipping for (insert item)." to read "Buyer has refused to make use of the recommended shipping method and opted to have the item sent via standard shipping against the advice of the store's management."
Then there is evidence that not only was the shipping choice that of the buyer but that the management was not negligent in not warning the customer of the risks associated with such a decision and that the customer had been made aware of a "safer" option recommended by the seller, and opted against it.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

I haven't finished my first semester of law school yet so I can't give you a definite answer. But in everything I've learned so far, when getting someone to sign something, make sure it is conspicuous, make sure it is -NOT- boilerplate, make sure the issue you want taken care of is expressly signed by the customer (i.e. they initial that part of the agreement if there are multiple portions), and make sure what they are signing directly pertains to the issue you want taken care of.

I don't think there needs to be any "legal language" to make it binding. You can create a contract on the back of a receipt if you want.

[Darus Grey]

Legalese as a dialect of English is on it's way out, there's no function of syntax or semantics that prevents contracts from being accurately written in SAE, or even AAVE or one of the other common American dialects. It is simply a barrier invented by the law trade for the express purpose of keeping the public from being able to practice law, and since the advent of the internet you see the slow tide of people like you who one way or another begin down the route of "common language law".

tl;dr, don't feel left out because you can't understand/write legalese, it's not needed.

[Elesirdur]

Syntactically you don't have to write contacts in "legalese" but one must always be mindful of the specific definitions of key words as they are interpreted by the law. That's the kind of thing that a legal professional (barrister/solicitor, paralegal, notary) is most useful for; they speak a specailized language that others who practice and arbitrate the law speak. It is an elitist and closed system by its complex nature, but if lawyers are not expected to get involved then common speech will suffice.

But from what the OP is describing, the business owners are seeking to reduce their liability in the case that a customer demands damages against them. That being the case, and orchids being expensive things, lawyers could easily be involved. Hell, this is America we're talking about where there are enough lawyers out there to take any fool case to court, and a court system willing to see it. It stands to reason then that the owners are seeking to protect themselves when "good faith" alone will not provide the liability reduction they seek.

Where there is significant enough perceived risk, a written bilateral contract makes good business sense; especially when there are particular issues at hand that would otherwise not be present in a general transaction where "implied terms" are suffecient to protect the parties from undue risk. Ethically, the business should inform its customers of these special provisions and provide justification for imposing such terms on their customers. In the case at hand, it's easy to explain why express shipping is important and what the consequences could be if they do not follow the owner's advice. Besides, it's not like the business is making more money by charging for express shipment. One would hope that the cost of shipping is set for each purchase.

All this dithering aside, a written contract on the back of the invoice, bill of sale, or online ordering form makes sense. Don't forget that unilateral contracts are binding as well, so you can impose terms that are enforceable after a sale and still have them held up. (Think about the legalese on the back of a concert ticket or parking payment slip: Just by buying it you agree to all those terms and the seller has reduced their risk and liability for all sorts of events just by using their service.)

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

You may want to add something like "there is no warranty of merchantability, express or implied..." somewhere in your wording as well.