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Jurassic Park And The Dangers Of Boilerplate

Don’t just copy and paste.

By Matthew W. Schmidt  
on

(Image via Getty)

Everyone loved Jurassic Park. It was one of the most groundbreaking films of all time, had a massive cultural impact, and the CGI still holds up today. Then came The Lost World, which recycled much of what made the first film a success, to lesser effect. Next was  Jurassic Park III, to lesser effect yet. Fourteen years later, the franchise returned with Jurassic World, which largely repeated the plot of the first, but was well received because of the long wait, but then came Jurassic World: Lost Kingdom, which was less so.

The franchise’s diminishing returns came because it kept doing the same thing. Afraid to take chances, it repeated itself to its detriment.

So too is it dangerous to fall into the trap of boilerplate. Both in contract drafting and briefing, it can be tempting to reuse material without enough thought.

DON’T REPEAT YOURSELF

But you shouldn’t reuse that material. You can always do better if you take the time to rewrite it. You’re in the business of producing bespoke products, not mass produced ones.

Following a formula is fine, but any time you just drop in text you’ve used before, the reader zones out, just like you did when you watched Fallen Kingdom. And that’s especially bad when the reader is you or a judge.

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DON’T JUST COPY LANGUAGE FROM OTHER CONTRACTS

One of the worst possible attitudes when drafting contracts is that anything is “boilerplate.” That attitude is how sloppy language gets unthinkingly copied, half amended, and eventually results in a rambling, tangled mess that no one reads until there’s a dispute, while the writer justifies it by telling themselves and anyone who asks that it’s “standard boilerplate.”

Don’t do that. Do your own work and actually write the provisions you’re drafting. It’s fine to look at precedent, but if you don’t understand why something’s there, you shouldn’t be putting it in your contract.

WRITE YOUR OWN BRIEF

You should also write your own brief. It doesn’t matter if it’s the fourth similar motion in a row in the case and you really want to just reuse the same statement of facts. Write it again and make it different and better.

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First, the reader will stop reading. Every reader zones out if they think the writer didn’t put thought into what they’re reading, and often the reader will just skip ahead. You have limited briefing space and you don’t want to waste it on filler. And if it is wasted, it shouldn’t be there at all.

Second, almost anything you write will be improved by rewriting it, especially after a break. No matter how great what you wrote three months ago was, doing it again now will make it better.

TAKE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE SERIOUSLY

In short, you should treat what you write seriously. You’re a professional writer and you should act like it. Stephen King doesn’t phone it in, even if his works are similar. You shouldn’t phone it in either. Instead, take some pride in your work, sit down, and give it another go. Then maybe watch Jurassic Park again, because the original really does hold up.

Matthew W Schmidt Balestriere FarielloMatthew W. Schmidt has represented and counseled clients at all stages of litigation and in numerous matters including insider trading, fiduciary duty, antitrust law, and civil RICO. He is a partner at the trial and investigations law firm Balestriere Fariello in New York, where he and his colleagues represent domestic and international clients in litigation, arbitration, appeals, and investigations. You can reach him by email at matthew.w.schmidt@balestrierefariello.com.

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