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MSCD Fourth Edition: Preface

Go here for the preface to the fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. It will give you a sense of what has changed from the third edition. Once the print version is available, I’ll put online more detailed information about changes.

Reminder: Toronto Seminars on 23 and 24 October

My first-ever public seminar was in Toronto with Osgoode Professional Development, back in 2006, I think. And way more people have attended my seminars in Toronto than in any other city. So I always enjoy going back. I’ll be back on 23 October for my regular “Drafting Clearer Contracts” seminar. It will be my first seminar in Toronto at which … Read More

MSCD Fourth Edition: Table of Contents

Go here for the table of contents to the fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. If you’re not familiar with the book, it will give you a good idea of what it covers. Before the ABA receives copies of the print edition from the printer—in other words, before 10 October—I’ll put online a version of the … Read More

MSCD Fourth Edition: Foreword by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster

Here’s another indication that A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting has reached maturity with the fourth edition: for the first time, it has a foreword. And not just any old foreword. It’s by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the high-profile Delaware Court of Chancery. I think you’ll find it of interest. If Travis’s foreword brings MSCD to the … Read More

MSCD Fourth Edition: The Binding

We’ve changed the binding for the fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. This might seem a trivial matter, but the binding was enough of an issue for me to ask readers about it in this 2008 post, and in 2014 I did this post about Amazon reviews objecting to the binding. The slight first edition was a … Read More

Fourth Edition of MSCD Now Available for Preorder

The print version of the fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting will arrive at the ABA warehouse on 10 October, but you can preorder it by going here. That being the case, next week I’ll do posts about the foreword, the table of contents, the preface, the introduction, and the index. The print version costs $119.95, … Read More

Ruminating on the Word “Excellence”

What does the word excellence have to do with contract drafting? Bear with me. I’m not fond of the word excellence. It’s not a word you hear much in everyday English. Instead, we use adjectives (excellent, not to mention great, outstanding, and others) or adverbs (excellently, not to mention amazingly, splendidly, and others). But excellence is an abstract noun—you can’t see, hear, … Read More

Software Leading the Blind, Based on Work Product of the Blind

Yesterday I saw this tweet by the estimable @ronfriedmann: New @LegalSifter ‘Sifts’ Legal Docs to Provides Negotiation Advice. @bobambrogi https://t.co/N96jWk3eEVContract tool ecosystem blossoms — ronfriedmann (@ronfriedmann) September 15, 2017 Every so often Ron says something glass-half-full about software for contracting; ever predictable, I respond glass-half-empty. Or I throw the glass over my shoulder. This is one of those occasions. The … Read More