MSCD

MSCD Fourth Edition: Introduction

Go here for the introduction to the fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. The introduction serves as a manifesto. It’s a reflection of what was on my mind at the time; if I were to write it now, I might emphasize some parts more or less. But I think it sets the scene appropriately. Bear with … Read More

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.

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

MSCD4: Too Much of a Good Thing?

The third edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting is 510 pages long. Today I was surprised to be told that the fourth edition will weigh in at around 700 pages. That represents a lot of new material, particularly when you take into account that I’ve omitted chapter 20 (Drafting Corporate Resolutions). There’s no padding in the fourth … Read More

MSCD4 Now in Production

I just sent my minder at the American Bar Association the manuscript for the fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. All I can say is EXPLETIVE DELETED. It took about four months to weave a mass of disparate writings into the text of the third edition, then sand and polish the whole so the seams don’t … Read More

Should I Flag Changes to the Fourth Edition of MSCD?

I’m writing the preface to the fourth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. Normally it’s where I’d describe what’s new, but there’s so much new material that listing what’s new would clog up the works. And I don’t know how helpful people would find it. In the third edition I mostly said whether a given chapter was … Read More