A comprehensive guide to writing and drafting from the first stage of preparation to the final edit. Features checklists, worked examples and chapters on using email, and designed to accompany readers from vocational study through to their qualification as solicitors as well as throughout the early years of practice.

Contract Drafting: Powerful Prose in Transactional Practice presents an overview of the stages in the contract process and offers a comprehensive introduction to the substantive areas addressed in transactional documents. In fourteen lessons, readers will learn how to work from prior documents to produce effective and complete legal documents that protect the client's interests.

From concept to closure, A Practical Guide to Drafting Contracts provides detailed instruction for drafting contracts. Moreover, it teaches readers how to adapt existing contracts and forms to the specific needs of their client--as is frequently done by lawyers in legal practice. Step-by-step instruction and examples unpack the purpose of each provision for a wide range of contracts and integrate the basic principles that apply to both domestic and international transactions. Practice exercises further develop students’ drafting skills, as well as their working knowledge of the language and syntax of contract law. New to the Second Edition: Enhanced coverage of negotiating and drafting contracts in the United States Mind-mapping exercises that help learners think deeply about key contract provisions and their effect on other important aspects of the contract New contract simulations and drafting exercises Clear signposting of text and exercises specifically written for non-native speakers Professors and students will benefit from: Step-by-step instruction through the entire drafting process In-depth explanations and helpful examples Insights into the strategic decisions behind drafting contracts Hands-on exercises that: Raise awareness of commonly occurring contract provisions Encourage use of phrasing appropriate to audience and purpose Build familiarity with the legal principles of contracts Provide practice modifying forms and contracts drafted by other parties Discussion of U.S. law regarding key contract provisions and drafting issues Online Student Resources including: Additional exercises A wealth of sample APA contracts, Consulting Agreements, and Distribution Contracts that students are encouraged to mine for appropriate language and provisions in the process of drafting new contracts

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.

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.