united-states contract-law constitutional-law statutory-construction
Exceptions to Article VI&#39;s Supremacy Clause for private party contracts
<p>We have an old (2005) contract template. It contains a sentence in a section referring to governing federal laws,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Such [federal] laws and regulations shall take precedence over the substantive laws of the State of XXXXX in the event of any conflict of laws.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Is there a reason this would have been added? Our current reviewer says it is a moot point. Any speculation is appreciated.</p>

<p>One view of contracts is that they are written by lawyers, for lawyers, so this clause contains no new information. Another view of contracts is that they state what the parties are agreeing to, and an author may wish to be clear on a point, so that the customer goes into the relationship fully-informed. Drawing attention to this fact is not harmful (it is short and clear), and may be helpful.</p>
