Essentials of Contract Drafting and Negotiating

Every lawyer needs to be an effective contract negotiator -- now you can learn the essentials from top attorneys. Using a commercial contract, you'll learn essential concepts such as contract structure, interplay of key provisions, "boilerplate" language, and practice tips from real-world negotiations.

This class addresses the basics of corporate drafting, using a commercial contract as an example. The instructor will focus on technical skills and concepts such as the basic structure of a contract, the interplay of representations and warranties, covenants, and conditions, and drafting and negotiating boilerplate language. Practical skills concepts will be discussed at length, including how to:

• write in a clear and concise way,
• blackline documents,
• interpret editing comments,
• coordinate signature pages and
• avoid common pitfalls in corporate drafting.

Level: Basic-Foundational

This class is suitable for attorneys who have a general interest in, or are exposed to, corporate transactions but have not had extensive practical experience in drafting or negotiating contracts.

Upon completion of this Master Class, participants are able to:

• Demonstrate a broad understanding of the various standard contract provisions and how they interrelate
• Draft basic contract terms
• Recognize and negotiate one-sided and neutral provisions
• Write in a clear and concise way
• Blackline documents
• Interpret editing comments
• Coordinate signature pages
• Avoid common pitfalls in corporate drafting

Participants will be asked to review and propose revisions to a contract based on a set of facts relating to our hypothetical client’s goals and concerns. During the live review session of the course, participants will review the model answer and receive feedback on the substance of the drafting as well as practical tips for clear and concise drafting. 

2 CLE Credits is available for each course.