CLE
Ed Smith
Ed Smith Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Steve Weise
Steve Weise Proskauer Rose LLP
Effective Contract Drafting Fundamentals, Negotiation, Strategies, and Key Provisions
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Premieres July 7, 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
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Effective Contract Drafting: Fundamentals, Negotiation, Strategies, and Key Provisions

The faculty will discuss effective contract drafting. The discussion will include tips on drafting for the intended audience, avoiding “legalese,” drafting clearly, paying attention to grammar and organization, avoiding unintended consequences of using common and typical terms, contract formation, maximizing the use of choice-of-law and choice-of-forum clauses, and contractual risk allocation techniques.

Topics covered include:
Contracts Business Law Law Practice
Agenda:
  • Introduction
    • Overview of contract drafting fundamentals

  • Considering the Audience
    • Know the intended audience
    • Draft so that the contract can be understood by the intended audience

  • Knowing the Terms and What the Client Wants
    • Understand what the client wants and does not want
    • Do not incorporate boilerplate into the contract uncritically

  • Avoiding Legalese and Going Too Far
    • Avoid repetitive, impenetrable, or dense language
    • Don’t over-reach

  • Contract Formation
    • Review the normal rules of contract drafting
    • Pay attention to recent learning on electronic contracting

  • How To Write Clearly
    • Use simple terms
    • Don’t use ambiguous terms
    • Avoid passive voice

  • General Drafting Points
    • Pay attention to grammar
    • Use a readable font
    • Pay attention document layout and section headings

  • Commonly Used Terms
    • Pay attention to definitions and how they are used
    • Understand how commonly used terms are interpreted
    • List catch-all items

  • Choice of Law and Choice of Forum
    • Understand the utility of choice-of-law and choice-of-forum clauses
    • Understand what potential challenges could be made to the clauses

  • Risk Allocation
    • Understand how representations, warranties, and indemnity clauses work to allocate risks

  • Questions & Answers (as time permits)
Duration of this webinar: 60 minutes
When: Premieres in 37 days | July 07, 2025 10:00 AM PT
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Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credits

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California CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General

South Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General

Difficulty: All Levels

North Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General

Texas CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General


This presentation is approved for one hour of General CLE credit in California, South Carolina (all levels), and North Carolina. This course has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of Texas Committee on MCLE in the amount of 1.00 credit hours.

Justia only reports attendance in jurisdictions in which a particular Justia CLE Webinar is officially accredited. Lawyers may need to self-submit their certificates for CLE credit in jurisdictions not listed above.

Note that CLE credit, including partial credit, cannot be earned outside of the relevant accreditation period. To earn credit for a course, a lawyer must watch the entire course within the relevant accreditation period. Lawyers who have viewed a presentation multiple times may not be able to claim credit in their jurisdiction more than once. Justia reserves the right, at its discretion, to grant an attendee partial or no credit, in accordance with viewing duration and other methods of verifying course completion.

At this time, Justia only offers CLE courses officially accredited in certain states. Lawyers may generate a generic attendance certificate to self-submit credit in their own jurisdiction, but Justia does not guarantee that lawyers will receive their desired CLE credit through the self-submission or reciprocity process.

Looking for CLE credit? Visit CLE Dashboard CLE Accreditation
Speakers
Ed Smith
Ed Smith Partner
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

EDWIN E. SMITH is a partner in the New York City and Boston offices of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. He concentrates his practice in general commercial and insolvency law. He has been a member of the teaching faculty at the Morin Center for Banking Law Studies at Boston University Law School, where he has taught secured transactions and transnational lending and trade finance. He has also served as a lecturer on secured transactions at Northeastern University Law School of Law, Harvard Law School and Suffolk Law School. Read More ›

Steve Weise
Steve Weise Partner
Proskauer Rose LLP

Steve Weise is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Proskauer Rose LLP. He practices in all areas of commercial and contract law, with an emphasis on the Uniform Commercial Code. Steve has been a member of several drafting committees for revisions to the Uniform Commercial Code, including the 2022 UCC Amendments for emerging technologies. He is a member of the Permanent Editorial Board for the Uniform Commercial Code and the Council of the American Law Institute. At the ALI, Steve has been active in Restatements on Consumer Contracts, Property, Conflict of Laws, and Torts. Steve has been the reporter for many reports on third-party opinion letters for the TriBar Opinion Letter Committee and the ABA Opinion Letter Committee. Steve is an adjunct professor at UCLA Law School, where he teaches Uniform Commercial Code Article 9 – Secured Transactions. Read More ›

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