I was in London last week. I rounded out a busy couple of days with a panel discussion hosted by UCL Faculty of Laws. It was entitled “Modern Contract Drafting: Improving Content, Upgrading Your Process, and Overcoming Inertia,” and it was held in the grand Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre. For the recording, go here. You can find more information about the … Read More
Today I saw the following tweet: https://twitter.com/15lauren/status/921947032788414464 Here’s how I responded: You're doing it wrong :-) https://t.co/hKurJeRTmX — Ken Adams (@AdamsDrafting) October 22, 2017 The smiley in my tweet was to indicate that I was being facetious. Why was I being facetious? Because the process of drafting contracts, as it’s traditionally handled, would make anyone sad: You find, or are … Read More
In addition to the ACC annual meeting taking place in Washington, DC (I was on a panel), there’s the Legal Geek Conference happening in London. It came to my attention because of the following tweet: Yep…legal profession as the last vestige of the medieval guild system to survive. And #legaltech is here to change it #legalgeek pic.twitter.com/9NppMAzw6h — Joya (@joyavanhout) … Read More
I came across this article in the Contracting Excellence Journal, published by the International Association for Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM). It’s by Rob Waller, Helena Haapio, and Stefania Passera, and the title is Contracting Simplification: The Why and the How. I could hardly argue with the premise for the article. Traditional contract drafting doesn’t work? Check. Confusing contracts can lead … Read More
I’ve found that those in charge of contract templates at companies are experts at finding obstacles to changing their templates. I’ve heard all sorts of reasons why change is hard: “We don’t have time.” “The customers won’t like it.” “We’re all so used to the current templates.” “You don’t understand the business constraints.” And so on. Even when they opt … Read More
Who is best placed to make decisions about a company’s contracts? I don’t know; I guess it depends. How about the general counsel? After all, they should have the broadest perspective, and they should be able to think long-term: How much longer does each deal take because our contracts are wordy and confusing? What’s the risk of our exposing ourselves … Read More
Yesterday someone suggested to me that the main problem with contracts is that they’re too complicated. That’s consistent with the message of an article that appeared in Legaltech News this week, entitled Are Law Firms Too Sophisticated for Their Own Good? (here). It’s also consistent with a recommendation I’ve heard over the years: lawyers should take pity on those who … Read More
In this post I mention that I troubleshoot company templates. I’ll now explain why that service that has value. Contract-drafting is long and life is short, particularly if decisions regarding contract drafting are left to the individuals in an organization. You’re a fan of clear and modern contract language? That’s great, but you have some obstacles to overcome before you … Read More
I have a fantasy. Let me tell you about that fantasy. Don’t worry, it’s nothing lurid. In my fantasy, a company adopts a detailed set of guidelines for contract language. Those guidelines apply to every contract, regardless of what part of the company is responsible for it. They’re not namby-pamby, we-think-this-would-be-a-good-idea guidelines: if you want to keep drafting, reviewing, and … Read More
Here’s something I said in this article on LinkedIn: And more generally, being expert in your company’s transactions doesn’t make you an expert in contract language, any more than knowing how to drive a car makes you an expert mechanic. Contract drafting is a specialized kind of writing: leave it to specialists. By “specialist,” I mean someone who is expert in … Read More
