- The online book: Drafting Contracts
- Weblog
- Free e-books
- Published: Drafting contracts
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- Part I - Contract drafting: matters of style
- 1 - General drafting principles
- 2 - Matters of style and legal culture
- Part II - Structure and presentation of contracts
- 3 - Main contract outline
- 3.1 - Setting up an agreement
- 3.2 - Presentation styles: European vs. US style
- 3.3 - A cover page and table of contents
- 3.4 - First part of an agreement
- 3.5 - The body of the agreement
- 3.6 - Blank space after the body of the contract
- 3.7 - Signature blocks, seals and witnesses
- 3.8 - Aspects of signing, and initialling
- 3.9 - Notarisation, legalisation and apostilles
- 4 - Structuring the transaction documents
- 5 - Presentation: the look and feel
- Part III - Drafting contracts and contract clauses
- 6 - Typical drafting habits and 'legalese'
- 6.1 - Certain funny phrases
- (a) - For the avoidance of doubt, ...
- (b) - ‘…, as the case may be’
- (c) - The issue of ‘include’ and ‘without limitation’
- (d) - ‘Subject to…’
- (e) - ‘Notwithstanding…’
- (f) - ‘Except as otherwise agreed…’
- (g) - ...provided, however, that...
- (h) - ‘…from time to time’
- (i) - ‘…not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed’
- (j) - Shall be 'deemed'
- (k) - ‘Third parties’
- (l) - 'Hereby'
- (m) - ‘To the maximum extent permitted by law’
- (n) - Intentionally left blank...
- 6.2 - Do's and don'ts
- (a) - Think first: and/or
- (b) - 'In order to' (avoid explanations)
- (c) - Not shall and will (but only one of them)
- (d) - 'Said', 'such' and links
- (e) - Do not write (s) and do not use /
- (f) - ‘The same’ and ‘that certain’
- (g) - Herein, thereof, everywhereof
- (h) - 'Mutual' is a pleonasm
- (i) - Do not emphasise the unnecessary
- (j) - Use of ‘when’, ‘if’ and ‘to the extent that’
- (k) - Use of synonyms and hendiadyses
- (d) - Certain vague terms: without undue delay
- 6.3 - Numbers and formulae
- 6.1 - Certain funny phrases
- 7 - Definitions and contract interpretation clauses
- 8 - Particular types of clauses
- 8.1 - Conditions, conditional clauses and triggering events
- 8.2 - Covenants
- 8.3 - Reps and warranties
- (a) - Warranties - a quick introduction
- (b) - Statements of fact, not obligations
- (c) - Warranties, not representations and warranties
- (d) - A warranty is incorrect (or untrue), but not breached
- (e) - Smoking out the facts
- (f) - Allocation of risk
- (g) - Fitness for purpose and merchantability
- (h) - Bringing down warranties
- (i) - Survival of warranties
- (j) - Disclosures in M&A agreements
- (k) - Warranties in ordinary course business contracts
- (l) - Warranty aspects in major transactions (M&A)
- 8.4 - Limitations of liability and indemnities
- 8.5 - Confidentiality clauses
- 8.6 - Miscellaneous ('boilerplate') clauses
- (a) - Notices clause
- (b) - Amendments
- (c) - No subcontracting
- (e) - Severability
- (f) - Waivers
- (g) - Entire agreement and merger clauses
- (h) - Further assurance (duty to cooperate)
- (i) - Force majeure
- (j) - Announcements
- (k) - No termination or dissolution
- (l) - Independent contractors (‘no partnership established’)
- (m) - Time is of the essence
- (n) - No general conditions to apply
- (o) - Language (translations)
- (p) - Counterparts
- (q) - Independence of the notary
- (r) - Language
- 8.7 - Applicable law clauses
- 8.8 - Dispute resolution provisions
- Part IV - Miscellaneous
- 9 - Contract assembly software
- 10 - Drafting certain specific types of legal documents
- ANNEXES - -
- Annex1 - Ten steps to a succesful upgrade of your contracts
- (a) - Step 1: Selection of contracts and scope of contract automation
- (b) - Step 2: Establishing a best practice group
- (c) - Step 3: Collecting and stripping the model contracts and precedents
- (d) - Step 4: Prioritising the model contracts
- (e) - Step 5: Establishing the procedure and setting the agenda
- (f) - Step 6: Preparing handsome proposals for discussion
- (g) - Step 7: Discussing and establishing the model building blocks
- (h) - Step 8: Determining the company's contract house style
- (i) - Step 9: Identifying approval requirements and business access
- (j) - Step 10: Automating the documents and implementing the workflow
- Annex 2 - Document marking conventions
- Annex 3 - Contract drafting conventions (sample)
- Annex 4 - House style rules (sample)
5.2 Layout and numbering
In this paragraph, the division of a contract into articles, sections and subsections will be discussed; some guidelines for enumerating matters will be given and the (non) use of bullet points.