2-Hour Program

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Overview

Why You Should Attend

The reduction to writing of an agreed-upon understanding among parties can sometimes be viewed as a cursory step in formalizing a business relationship. Yet the manner in which concepts are expressed on a page is often as important as the concepts themselves. Solid contract-drafting skills are therefore essential tools to any professional who deals with transactions or business relationships. Unfortunately, although contract counterparties might have the best of intentions, many contracts—even those drafted by experienced attorneys and those relating to the most prominent of transactions—are plagued with ambiguities, inconsistencies, unintended imprecision, and “bloat” from rhetorical emphasis, rendering them confusing, risky, and potentially very costly. This course is designed to convey fundamental—but often unconsidered—principles to assist both newly admitted and seasoned attorneys with drafting, analyzing, and interpreting contracts. Unlike many other contract-drafting courses, this course focuses on the manner in which concepts are expressed in a contract, rather than the substance of any provision or contract in particular.

 Basic Concepts

  • Legal Drafting vs. Conversation/Prose Writing\
  • The Importance of Language
  • Preferences in Contract Drafting
  • Practical Considerations
  • The Framework of a Contract

More Advanced Concepts

  • Conditional Language
  • Language of Exception and Subordination
  • The Concept of "Deemed"
  • References to Time
  • "And"/"Or" Ambiguities

What You Will Learn

  • the importance of language in contracts
  • categories of contract language (including language of performance, obligations, prohibitions, discretionary language, representations and warranties, acknowledgments, and language of policy)
  • the distinction between shall, will, and must
  • conditional language
  • language of exception and subordination
  • the concept of deemed
  • references to time
  • ambiguities associated with and and or
  • legal archaisms
Industries

Credit Details