Letter 8023: The matter you described in your last letter is one that falls, I think, within the established practice in such...

From: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, senator and orator To: [Unknown correspondent] Date: ~377 AD Context: Symmachus, Book VIII, letter 23. A letter concerning a legal matter or a matter of practical business. The matter you described in your last letter is one that falls, I think, within the established practice in such cases — or at least, that is my reading of the precedents, which I have had occasion to review because similar questions have come before me in other contexts. The established practice: when the original instrument is ambiguous on this point — as it appears to be — the interpretive tradition generally favors the construction that is most favorable to the weaker party, on the theory that those who draft legal instruments are assumed to be sophisticated enough to have said what they meant, and that ambiguity in a clause that disadvantages the less sophisticated party is a problem of the drafter's making. Whether the court in your case will apply this principle consistently is another matter; courts vary in this regard. I would advise proceeding on the assumption that the favorable interpretation will not be granted without argument, and preparing the argument accordingly. If you want me to look at the actual text of the instrument, send it to me. As ever in these matters, I give you the benefit of my opinion but not the guarantee of the outcome. Your friend and amateur jurist, Symmachus