Contract drafting: a skill and an art
How to write a perfect contract every single time
Many people who are new to contracts approach contracts with a great deal of intimidation and circumspection. And they are right to a certain extent. Contracts are laden with responsibility and obligations and, if not done correctly can lead to litigation and loss of time and money.
Drafting contracts is both a skill and an art. It can be learned and some of the best contract negotiators and drafters are businesspeople as opposed to lawyers.
There are a few skills that will assist you in becoming the best contract negotiator and drafter you can be:
Learn the basics. Learn the ABCs of contract negotiation and drafting.
Strong writing skills. Can you write simply in clear, easy-to-understand English? If not, check out E.B. White and Strunk’s The Elements of Style for helpful writing tips.
Logical thinking. Are you good at math or philosophy? Then you are probably good at logical and clear thinking. A contract should make sense and each part should be complimentary and not contradictory. This requires some an ability to concentrate and connect dots to ensure something written in one clause does not contradict something in another clause.
Commercial understanding or “savvy”. Are you able to grasp commercial concepts quickly and translate them into simple English? Are you able to spot issues that need to be explored more deeply, double-checked and researched further?
Are you careful and deliberate? This skill is a personal characteristic but it can be learned. Contracts often need to be drafted and completed quickly, but they also need to be crafted carefully and deliberately.
Develop a checklist. Depending on the kind of contract you are drafting, it is extremely helpful to develop a contract-specific checklist and/or a library of similar contracts to guide you in your drafting. A checklist will ensure you do not forget important elements of your contract and leave your client exposed.
Sleep on it. If you don’t have to produce a contract instantaneously, to the extent possible, sleep on your work and come back to it the next day.
Review it. Mistakes will happen but the more you review and edit your contract, the more likely it is you will catch any errors in substance or construction.
If you are an entrepreneur or lawyer who wants to brush up on your contract negotiation and drafting skills, I invite you to consider joining the upcoming 10-hour-intensive Commercially Savvy Lawyer Contract Negotiation and Drafting Boot Camp from Monday, December 11th, 2023 to Friday, December 15th, 2023 on the Maven HQ platform.