Legal Drafting in a Nutshell

PREFACE V PART I. INTRODUCTION Chapter 1. A Philosophy of Drafting 1 A. The Characteristics of Good Legal Writing 3 1. Accuracy 6 2. Clarity 7 3. Concision 8 4. Simplicity 10 5. Tone 10 B. Three Types of Legal Writing 10 1. Discursive Writing 11 2. Litigation Related Writing 11 3. Normative Writing 12 C. The Ultimate Consequence of Drafted Documents 12 D. Drafting as a Facilitator of Self Government and Economic Enterprise 14 E. Drafting as a Form of Preventative Lawyering 15 F. Drafting as an Intellectual Exercise 16 1. Knowledge of the Law 16 2. Investigation 17 3. Conceptualization 18 4. Forethought 20 5. Organization 20 G. Drafting as a Literary Exercise 21 1. Words 21 2. Sentences 23 3. Other Word Construction Techniques 23 4. Headings 24 H. Drafting as an Ethical Exercise 24 I. The Costs of Bad Drafting 26 1. Social Costs 26 2. Client Costs 27 3. Drafter Costs 27 J. Drafting From Scratch 29 Chapter 2. Contract Drafting 30 A. The Role of the Contract Drafter 32 B. Recurring Problems in Contract Drafting 34 1. Unintended Contracts 35 2. Document