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.

 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 or
  • legal archaisms

The first half of this course will address various contract-drafting topics, including: 

  • A recap of basic and intermediate drafting concerns
  • Formulas
  • Attachments to contracts
  • Ambiguity relating to modifiers and qualifiers
  • Contract interpretation principles

The second half of the course will cover drafting issues relating to contract boilerplate, including provisions concerning the following topics: 

  • Parties, beneficiaries, and obligees (assignment and delegation, successors and assigns, third-party beneficiaries)
  • Interpretation of a contract (amendments, waivers, merger/integration clauses, captions/headings)
  • Enforcement of a contract (severability, governing law, forum selection, waiver of jury trial, remedies)
  • Other common terms (force majeure, further assurances, transaction costs, notices, counterparts)

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Credit Details