Tag Archives: Scrivener’s Error

Part I: “Scrivener’s Error”: Historical Antecedents, Development and State of the Law

Victor M. Metsch is a Senior Litigation/ADR Counsel at Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP.  He can be reached at vmetsch@sgrlaw.com.  He maintains a website at www.LegalVictor.net and can be found on Twitter @LegalVictor1.   

The equitable remedy of reformation to correct a “scrivener’s error” in a contract, agreement or understanding appears to be as old as the common law itself.   General principles of New York law in this area of the law  were formulated in the mid to late nineteenth century (Part I); nuanced and applied to more complicated transactions in the twentieth (Part II); and  continue to be followed and applied in the current millennium (Part III). 

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