How to Draft a Contract: For New Transactional Lawyers

Learn to draft contracts with confidence from an author, professor, and transactional lawyer with over 20 years' experience!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016
9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Pan Pacific Hotel, 999 Canada Place, Vancouver
or attend via Live Webinar

Who should attend: New lawyers and experienced lawyers new to transactional practice who draft agreements used in all kinds of corporate and commercial transactions.

Learning level: Fundamental

Come and see why hundreds of lawyers are attending this seminar every year! How to Draft a Contract is a “how to” drafting program relevant to lawyers entering any area of transactional practice, including corporate, mergers and acquisitions, business law, intellectual property, and commercial real estate, to name just a few. The program begins with a discussion of the legal context of drafting, revealing outside forces that may dictate the way specific terms of the agreement are drafted or interpreted. 

The program examines the meaning of and strategies for drafting common performance and boilerplate provisions, using highly practical drafting techniques and dozens of real-life examples taken from actual contracts. This course will provide you with strategies that beginning transactional lawyers can implement immediately to draft legal documents with confidence.

You will learn...

• what the contract drafter’s primary goals should be
• what information should be included in scope, representation and warranties, indemnification, liquidated damage, and termination sections
• how to allocate risk among the parties to the transaction
• how seemingly minor edits can significantly shift risk
• how to mark up a prior draft to fit the current transaction
• what factors to consider in using electronic signatures and virtual attachments
• which words to use to create specific legal consequences
• and much more!

Also check out the more advanced drafting course, Secrets of Bulletproof Contract Drafting which takes place the next day, Thursday, November 3, 2016.

Law Society of BC CPD Hours: 6.5 hours. *If you complete a Self-Paced eLearning course before December 31, 2016, you will obtain 1 CPD hour which involves professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, and/or practice management. Note: As part of your registration, you will receive a non-transferable complimentary registration to any eligible Self-Paced eLearning course—click here to see the list of course offerings.

Course Instructor
Lenné Eidson Espenschied — ABA author, Atlanta, Georgia

Pricing
EARLY BIRD (Register by October 5, 2016 and SAVE)
Live Course: $690 | Student $345; Live Webinar: $565
Save even more with your CPDone Pass.

CLEBC Program Coordinator
Jessica Post
jpost@cle.bc.ca

Course Instructor
Lenné Eidson Espenschied — ABA author, Atlanta, Georgia

About the Course Instructor
Lenné Eidson Espenschied practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia for over 20 years, focusing on corporate and transactional representation of technology-based businesses. She is the author of two books published by the American Bar Association: Contract Drafting: Powerful Prose in Transactional Practice (ABA Fundamentals, 2010) and The Grammar and Writing Handbook for Lawyers (ABA Fundamentals, 2011). After graduating from the University of Georgia School of Law magna cum laude, Ms. Espenschied began her legal practice in the Atlanta office of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; she also served as Senior Counsel in the legal department of Bank of America before eventually opening her own law office. As a law school professor, Ms. Espenschied taught commercial law, contracts, and contract drafting. She is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars and provides private training at law firms and corporate legal departments. Her passion is helping lawyers acquire the skills they need to be successful in transactional practice.

Praise from past attendees

“Excellent seminar and teacher! I will look at agreements differently going forward.”

“I loved the real life examples and takeaways. A lot of knowledge and detail that will prove useful in day to day drafting.”

“This seminar was iminently useful. The materials were well-organized, practical, and included plenty of examples.”

9:00 – 10:30
The Context of Drafting

• five characteristics of excellent drafting
• the legal context: gap fillers, required disclosures, and enforceability of contracts
• nine essential parts of a contract
• three types of contracts

10:30 – 10:45
Networking Break

10:45-12:15
Strategies for Five Common Performance Provisions

Indemnification 

Tips for Drafting 11 Common Boilerplate Provisions

Preparation

• how to interview the client
• how to identify the the audience of a contract

12:15 – 1:15
Lunch (on your own)

1:15 – 2:45
Drafting Techniques and Strategies

• using defined terms
• using correct language to create 11 specific legal consequences
• three methods of allocating risk
• starting from a winning position
• the money trail and alternative outcomes

2:45 – 3:00
Networking Break

3:00 – 4:30
Completing the Contract

• alternative dispute resolution considerations
• gender-free drafting 
• appearance
• how to review a contract prepared by opposing counsel
• amendments