Perhaps the most unappreciated risk in drafting contracts is the risk of ambiguity due to drafting errors.  The opposite of “ambiguity” is “clarity,” and clarity is the quest of contract drafters.  Achieving clarity in drafting contracts should be our highest priority as drafters, because if a provision in a contract is ambiguous and, therefore, not enforceable as the drafter intended, the client has not received the value sought in hiring the drafter in the first place.  Even though clarity in contracts is our highest priority, blatant, obvious drafting errors are the norm rather than the exception.  In this quick start guide, learn the 10 most basic techniques every contract drafter should master, then apply them to draft more confidently and improve the quality of your work.

Faculty:

Lenne' Espenschied, Next Level Contracts

About the speaker:

Lenne' has earned her status as one of the two most popular contract drafting speakers in the U.S. by continually striving for excellence and providing innovative, practical skills-based training for transactional lawyers.  She practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia for 25 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, 3rd Ed.  2019), 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 corporate practice with a large, national law firm; 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 contributing faculty member at West Legal Ed.  She speaks nationally 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 more successful in transactional practice.