Payment to be due within three months "of" that meeting

Does the word "of" in the context of an established point in time refer to before or after that established point in time?

Solution 1:

To use the phrase that you have used in the subject title, this would normally mean that payment is due within 3 months after the date of the meeting, i.e. within the 3-month period commencing on the date of the meeting.

In many cases, the sense would, in any event, be clear from the context:

• Is the point in time referred to already in the past, or very imminent?
• When was the period set in relation to the specified period? (E.g. was the period specified more than 3 months before the meeting date?)
• How far in advance was the actual start date known, i.e. was the meeting date known more than 3 months in advance? (If the meeting date was set only 2 weeks in advance, the specified period can't be referring to the 3 months preceding the meeting date.)