Fundraiser for Phillips Academy Andover: Auction of One Lot of Ten Copies of “A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting”

[Updated May 2, 2013: Well, my readership has proved immune to the attractions of half off ten copies of MSCD. Tough crowd! Anyway, thank you for indulging me in this experiment.]

I’m offering up for auction one lot of ten print copies of the third edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. I’ll be paying all proceeds to the Parent Fund of Phillips Academy Andover, the school that my daughter, Sydney, attends.

The Auction Process

The minimum bid is US$500. That includes shipping, which I’ll be paying. If you were to purchase ten copies from the American Bar Association, the price would be US$899.60; including shipping within the U.S., the total would be US$967.06. (For members of the ABA Section of Business Law, the corresponding amounts would be US$674.60 and US$742.06.)

The books will be sent to the winning bidder by the ABA, not by me. I’ll accept a request to ship the books anywhere other than within the U.S. or Canada, but only if the winning bidder adds to their bid, once shipping costs have been determined, an amount equal to the additional shipping costs. That could be as high as a few hundred dollars, depending on the destination and whether expedited shipping is used.

I won’t be able to make your payment tax-deductible for you; that would be too awkward to arrange.

But here’s a wrinkle: If the winning bidder bids at least US$1,000 (excluding any surcharge for international shipping), I’d be willing to do for the winner’s organization my new one-hour presentation “The Bad (and Good) News About Contract Language and the Contract Process,” including 15 minutes of Q&A. (See this post for more about this presentation.)

We’d schedule a date for the presentation that works for all concerned. If the winner’s organization is located in the New York area, I’d do the presentation in person; if it’s located anywhere else, I’d do it via webcam, unless the winner wants to pay whatever travel and accommodations costs I’d incur to do it in person.

How do you bid? By posting a comment or by clicking here to send me an email message with your bid amount. I’ll post all email bids in the comments, using a code name for the bidder if the bidder wishes. After midnight, New York time, on April 30, I won’t accept further bids, and on May 1 I’ll announce the winner. Payment will be by PayPal invoice or by mailing me a check.

I’ll post on the blog a letter from the Parent Fund confirming that I’ve paid them an amount that will be equal to the amount of the winning bid. Otherwise, the school isn’t involved in this auction.

The School

Why give the proceeds to Phillips Academy Andover? Here’s why (from the school’s website):

Full tuition pays for only about half of the actual cost of educating a student. An Andover student’s education is funded by three primary sources: the Andover Fund (12%), the endowment (35%), and tuition (53%). Nearly half of our students receive financial aid. Thirteen percent receive full scholarships.

Even students whose families pay full tuition are subsidized by the Andover Fund and income from the endowment.

Andover Seal

And because I’m seeing in Sydney the benefits of an Andover education.

Please don’t think that Andover is a bastion of privilege. One reason why Sydney elected to go there, and why we elected to send her, is that the student body is vastly more diverse than that of our local high school.

About the author

Ken Adams is the leading authority on how to say clearly whatever you want to say in a contract. He’s author of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, and he offers online and in-person training around the world. He’s also chief content officer of LegalSifter, Inc., a company that combines artificial intelligence and expertise to assist with review of contracts.

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