A comma is the smallest thing on the page. It has cost companies millions.
In 2006, Rogers Communications in Canada signed a contract with Aliant for access to utility poles. One clause read: the agreement “shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.”
One comma — the one before “unless” — changed everything. Canada’s telecom regulator ruled that the comma meant either side could kill the deal at any time on a year’s notice. Rogers thought it had five locked-in years at a fixed price. It didn’t. The comma cost roughly $2 million.
Eleven years later, in Maine, the missing comma did the damage. Oakhurst Dairy’s drivers sued over unpaid overtime. The state law exempted “packing for shipment or distribution” — no comma before “or.” The drivers’ lawyers argued the law only exempted packing, not distribution. The First Circuit agreed: “For want of a comma, we have this case.” Up to $10 million in overtime.
This is why I wrote Million Dollar Words. In my thirty years training legal professionals in more than fifty countries, I have seen brilliant lawyers lose on language, not law. The law was fine. The English failed.
A contract is not a story. Every word carries weight, and every mark on the page is a decision. Train your eye the way you train your argument.
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