In the second edition of this highly regarded text, the authors show how and why traditional legal language has developed the peculiar characteristics that make legal documents inaccessible to the end users. Incorporating recent research and case law, the book provides a critical examination of case law and the rules of interpretation. Detailed case studies illustrate how obtuse or outdated words, phrases and concepts can be rewritten, reworked or removed altogether. Particularly useful is the step-by-step guide to drafting in the modern style, using examples from four types of common legal documents: leases, company constitutions, wills and conveyances. Readers will gain an appreciation of the historical influences on drafting practice and the use of legal terminology. They will learn about the current moves to reform legal language, and receive clear instruction on how to make their writing clearer and their legal documents more useful.

Drafting and Analyzing Contracts (called Drafting Contracts in its first two editions) is organized around the topics that are studied in the first year Contracts course. The purpose of this book is to apply the principles of contract law to the drafting of agreements. Each chapter discusses the substance of contracts as applied to drafting and suggests language that may be employed to accomplish the purpose. Drafting and Analyzing Contracts uses drafting to: exemplify the principles of contract law illustrate the principles in a planning context develop the skills of a lawyer Part I (How the Principles of Contract Law are Exemplified in Drafting) contains 14 chapters that illuminate the substantive law. For example: Chapter 7 demonstrates the problems that can arise from ambiguity and how to cure them; and Chapter 10 makes clear how drafters can use the concepts to accomplish different goals. Part II (How the Principles of Drafting are Exemplified in Contracts) teaches techniques for contact drafting, including Drafting in Plain Language and Drafting with a Computer. Part II reinforces the substantive law and is particularly useful for classes that teach drafting. New in this edition is Part III (How to Read and Analyze a Contract). Attorneys rely on forms and models and often employ form contracts where there is no opportunity for drafting. Therefore, attorneys must first read a contract before drafting or explaining it to a client. Students who follow the "5 passes" process for reading contracts will develop and deepen their analytical skills. A thorough Teacher's Manual (available only to professors) provides guidance on teaching drafting, commentary on all parts of the book, solutions to all the problems, additional problems, and a bibliography.

The professional's favored tool for over a decade, this backbone reference provides a comprehensive set of drafting elements that can be used from contract to contract. Move step-by-step through the contract-creation process --from conducting the initial client meeting to closing the deal, with detailed discussions of the eleven, essential drafting elements, parties, recitals, subject, consideration, warranties and representations, risk allocation, conditions, performance, dates and term, boilerplate, and signatures. A favorite reference tool for professional drafters for over a decade, Drafting Effective Contracts combines a clear analysis of how effective agreements are structured with a practical breakdown of the essential elements of any contract-- giving you the best way to draft contracts. This completely updated practical reference guide presents a consistent structural analysis and a comprehensive set of drafting elements that can be used from contract to contract. You are led step-by-step through the process by which contracts are created, given clear sample contract provisions, and offered direction around the obstacles that may be encountered in drafting agreements for goods and services, promissory notes, guaranties, and secured transactions. Drafting Effective Contracts provides a complete handbook for drafting legal agreements that work. For starters, you get a practical and comprehensive approach to the overall contract process--from conducting the initial client meeting to closing the deal. You'll find a detailed discussion of the 11 drafting elements that every contract may have: Parties Recitals Subject Consideration Warranties and Representations Risk Allocation Conditions Performance Dates and Term Boilerplate Signatures After you get a solid explanation of these essential elements and how they're assembled to create effective contracts, you get key strategies for negotiating the agreement and closing the deal. You get an overview of the legal concepts that underpin various types of agreements --such as promissory notes, guaranties, security agreements, and agreements for the sale of goods and services. Then you'll see how to apply the drafting elements to create the finished contract. You also get an array of sample agreements and contracts as well as statutory material. Only Drafting Effective Contracts combines the best benefits of a forms book and a treatise to give you the most complete tool for building effective legal agreements.

"This update of Howard Darmstadter's witty, accessible guide to legal drafting reminds practitioners how best to choose their words, to compose clear and succinct sentences, to lay out their documents, and to decide which documents best serve a given scenario. This book may be unconventional, but it is a vital element of any lawyer's library."--BOOK JACKET.