Dave Hoffman

William A. Schnader Prof. of Law @pennlaw.

Teaching writing & tweeting mostly about contracts.

Against et al. Pro legal jargon. Neutral on legal process.

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

@jadler1969

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

@jadler1969 @reason @VolokhC

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

@BrennerFissell So, this is a basically a good story right?

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

@stareaskesis Terms or contracts?

Obviously would differ based on salience -- MAE terms litigated alot! Choice of law, less often. Telex, I guess never.

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

M&A transactions record the parties' goals and risk allocations... and the boilerplate of past contracts. In a new post I examine 25 years of deals for evidence of the adoption of new deal technologies, and their stickiness in the face of change.

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

Now that Andrew Baker is only snarking on linkedin, Yonathan is the best remaining hype guy here!

[Yonathan Arbel @ProfArbel]

Can you sign a multimillion-dollar deal by telex?

@HoffProf goes fossil-hunting on his Substack, exploring a puzzle in dealmaking.

He's testing the Gulati/Scott/Choi theory that obsolete terms get fossilized in contracts.

He brings really vivid evidence: M&A agreements in 2025 still list telex and telegram

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

I find that lawyers do react to technical change -- they pull out fax references over time as email rises. But not completely, as they leave in buried procedural language "shall be deemed given upon confirmation of transmission"!

It's a ghostly impression of the past.

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

The post is here: https://t.co/8iDncAJXfs

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

@derektmuller Graphologists can read alot into that dip in highlighting under last minute there Derek.

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

@ProfArbel I'm currently in our document recording that you didn't.

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

@drmtown Exactly. An important result, with reputable validators. That it's going to change few minds over on bluesky is sad.

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

A genuinely great paper.

[Julian Nyarko @JulianNyarko]

https://t.co/gC2LDt2iRr

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

@arpitrage I bet there were also town car and meal expenses that aren't mentioned which eat into the surplus.

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

Wasteful Bot-on-Bot disputes around customer service look inevitable. But what happens when the temporary compute subsidy goes away for consumers?

We're going to need an abundance agenda centered on rebuilding private reputational networks.

https://t.co/RwTn8XvJQ9

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

At 76, he's still got it.

[Dave Hoffman @HoffProf]

@derektmuller This is @chris_j_walker's walkup music.