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Contract in blood still open to interpretation

Even a contract written in blood can be subject to dispute, it appears. A California lawsuit is seeking to resolve a conflict over a repayment deal inked in blood.
/ Source: The Associated Press

A California lawsuit centers on a contract written in blood.

Jinsoo Kim is suing Stephen Son for failing to meet a promise written in his own blood.

Son's lawyer admits his client wrote out a repayment promise in his own blood after the two men went to a bar in 2004 and talked over their dispute. But the lawyer says Son only wrote that he would repay to "the best of" his ability.

Kim's lawyer doesn't dispute the translation. But he says it "seems ironic that when they go beyond the usual ink and laser printer" Son would say he didn't mean it.

A co-author and editor of contracts textbooks says over a 40-year career reading contracts, he's "never seen one" written in blood. But he says a contract gains no extra power whether it's "in stone" or oral.