Background
Ken Adams occupies a unique position in the field of contract drafting, in that he’s the only commentator to focus on the language of contracts—not what you express in a given contract provision, but how to express it in modern and effective contract language.
Ken practiced corporate law at major law firms in New York and Geneva, Switzerland, including Jones Day and Winston & Strawn. Because of his many years experience drafting contracts and his work as a consultant to companies seeking to improve their contract drafting, his understanding of contracts is not that of a spectator. And equally important, he’s intimately familiar with the demands of corporate practice and how lawyers at law firms and law departments go about drafting contracts.
But Ken also brings to bear a keen understanding of language. While the language of contracts is a specialized form of legal prose, it’s not exempt from the principles that govern other forms of writing. Because of his exceptional writing skills and his knack for language, he’s able to apply to contract language principles of linguistics, grammar, and general English usage.
The foundation of Ken’s expertise is his scholarship. In two books and a series of articles, he has rigorously analyzed the full range of issues that a drafter confronts when deciding on the language and format of a contract. His most recent book, A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, has been a best-seller for the ABA since the first edition was published in 2004. The second edition was published in August 2008.
An important part of his scholarship is explicating it to students and practitioners. Ken teaches the first-ever contract drafting course at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, one of the U.S.’s top law schools. Ken also conducts public seminars and in-house seminars.
Ken attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Before going to law school, he lived in Europe (primarily England) and Africa, the result of his father’s serving with the U.S. State Department. He received his undergraduate degree in 1983 from the University of York, England. His years overseas have made him aware of the needs of lawyers who are not native English speakers yet find themselves drafting and negotiating contracts in English.
To find out how he changed from being a practicing lawyer to being an authority on contract language, see this February 2009 blog post.
