Defined terms are words within a contract that are assigned a special meaning within the four corners of the contract that is different from the ordinary, every-day definition of that word.
Within contracts, defined terms are usually capitalized to signal to the reader that it is a defined term. For example, term vs. Term.
The definition of the defined term is typically indicated by bolded styling and quotation marks, like “Term”, and can be found:
When drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a contract, we need to uncover and understand:
Luckily, we can use MS Word’s Navigation bar to help us find and revise defined terms while we draft, review, and negotiate contracts.
In this scenario, I am looking for the definition of Term.
3. To filter down the results, I am going to use quotation marks around Term because I know that the definition is most likely going to be found where the defined term is marked with quotation marks. I edit the search to “Term”. This presents one result and shows me what the definition of Term is. MS Word will also highlight the search results in yellow throughout the contract.
In this scenario, I want to find instances where the word term is not capitalized and capitalize it where appropriate so that it is clearly a defined term.
3. The Find and Replace menu will appear. You can use this menu to customize your search results and essentially filter it down to find exactly what you are looking for.
4. Click on the More>> button to expand the menu. I recommend using the following options when navigating defined terms:
5. Click on the Replace tab.
6. Type the word you are looking for in the “Find what” field. This should be the mistakenly uncapitalized defined term.
7. Type the correct word into the “Replace with” field. This should be the capitalized version of the defined term.
8. Click Find Next. In my search, this produces one result where the word term was not properly capitalized.
9. Click Replace to replace the highlighted word.
Note: Be careful when using the Replace All button when navigating defined terms. We’ll cover this topic in a future post.
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