HFPA has high hurdles in Dick Clark suit.(WILSHIRE AND WASHINGTON)(Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions)

Always get things in writing.

In a landscape of legal caution, that sounds trite and condescending, but it is what's at play in the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.'s case against Dick Clark Prods. Much of their suit comes down to what was left out of a long-term contract to produce the Globes, namely, a clause that would have explicitly given the HFPA veto power as the Clark company negotiated new rights deals with NBC.

Luckily for the HFPA, California courts and the federal judges charged with interpreting California state law have been more flexible than elsewhere in allowing outside evidence in gleaning the meaning of a written contract. Not so luckily for the HFPA, …