One of the most common legal phrases that business professionals come across is “on or about.” But what does on or about really mean?
Simply put, “on or about” relates to the date something occurred or was filed, and is meant to cover a period of up to a few weeks or days either side of that specific date. It is used to give some leeway in ordering and filing deadlines, when the exact date isn’t known or didn’t really matter, as long as it was done within the specified time period.
For example, if a certain contract needs to be signed “on or about December 1st”, then it could realistically be completed within a few days before or after that specified date. Similarly, if a company needs to submit a particular report “on or about the first day of the month,” then they would have the month’s entire duration to submit that report.
The phrase “on or about” is very commonly used in legal documents throughout the world, and it helps to clarify the time period of a particular event or action. In this way, it prevents any legal disputes from arising as a result of incorrectly dated contracts or documents.
Conclusion
The legal phrase “on or about” is used to describe the acceptable time period for a particular event or action to take place. Understanding this phrase can help business professionals and companies to prevent disputes related to incorrectly dated documents or contracts, and should be kept in mind when making any binding legal agreements.