Having spent nearly my entire career litigating the terms of ambiguous contracts, I'm not certain careful drafting is the only answer, but its certainly one way to avoid the dreaded process server pounding on your door.   

As I used to tell my clients, litigation and trial are the legal equivalents of heart transplant surgery.  Pricey and potentially life-threatening.  Careful contract planning and drafting is the yearly medical physical -- prudent and worth its weight in top-flight litigators and dazzling trial lawyers.  

It is for this reason that I refer my readers to "AdamsDrafting," a first-class transactional blog and website I stumbled upon this morning.

Ken Adams, who will be here in Los Angeles in June has apparently made a career of spreading the wisdom of quality writing in the drafting of contracts.  Because it looks like he's the Shakespeare of the trade, I'm recommending that you subscribe to the RSS feed of AdamsDrafting Blog and avail yourself of Mr. Adams' wisdom when he appears in your town.

I'm not worried that Adams will put contract litigators and mediators out of business -- there's no way you can anticipate and provide against everything.  But you can avoid the repetititve pitfalls like the one Mr. Adams describes here.

Thanks for sharing the wisdom Ken!