2. Customary Practice

Closing opinions and the opinions included in them are prepared and understood in accordance with the customary practice of lawyers who regularly give those opinions and lawyers who regularly review them for opinion recipients. [1]  The phrase “customary practice” refers principally to the work lawyers are expected to perform to give opinions (“customary diligence”) and the way certain words and phrases commonly used in closing opinions are understood (“customary usage”).  Customary practice applies to a closing opinion whether or not the closing opinion refers to it or to this Statement. [2]

[1] See Statement on the Role of Customary Practice in the Preparation and Understanding of Third-Party Legal Opinions, 63 Bus. Law. 1277 (Aug. 2008) (the “Customary Practice Statement”), which has been approved by the bar associations and other lawyer groups listed at the end of that Statement and by additional groups following publication that can be found at [URL].

[2] See infra Section 10 (Varying Customary Practice).