Curmudgeons' Corner

Attorneys should Be clamoring to hire Guestmudgeon Fred

A template document (i.e., a document in which only a few parts change each time it is used) written by a LAWYER for a company with which I used to work used the word "hereafter" when he really meant "hereinafter." Yes, a LAWYER wrote it!! When I first came across the template, I informed his secretary that "hereafter" refers to the place where some people say we go when we die whereas "hereinafter" means "from this point on."

I wonder how many signed documents had gone out with the wrong word before I got there?

The OED says hereafter means the same as hereinafter (in addition to the meaning "life after death"), though certainly hereinafter is preferred in this context as there is no chance of confusing it with "the afterlife". Thankfully many attorneys (in our experience) are leaning toward using more normal language and eschew "lawyerspeak" such as this.

Have you heard or read similar or equally distressing usages?

Do tell us.

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