This week, The Volokh Conspiracy blog published my latest article, Comma Mischief from the Florida District Court of Appeal. The closing section explains that many judges are bad at textual interpretation. It ends with a rallying cry—the only fix would be to offer training to judges and their clerks, ideally from a center at a law school. The only way … Read More
The next public series of Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass, series (52), starts on 29 September 2026. Go here for more information. I apologize for being slow to get it scheduled—I’ve had plenty of distractions these past three months! I keep doing Masterclass because people keep telling me they find it valuable. Masterclass participants, I invite you to tell us, on … Read More
I launched Drafting Clearer Contracts: On Demand in March 2026, with 47 videos and four quizzes. Since then, I’ve done three monthly uploads of additional videos and quizzes; we’re now at 121 videos and 14 quizzes. Go here for a list. I expect to end up with 300 or more videos and who knows how many quizzes. I’m doing On … Read More
This week, I gave a presentation to the European Legal English Teachers’ Association (EULETA). Here is what was my last slide (well, apart from the slide with the discount code for MSCD): I stand by it, but with one important edit: I’d delete the word “only” in the second bullet-point. This presentation came on the heels of two important articles … Read More
If you’ve read my recent posts, you might have noticed a consistent theme: does being an informed consumer of contract language matter? If it does matter, then presumably the more ways one has to become an informed consumer of contract language, the better. Hence Drafting Clearer Contracts: On Demand, in addition to Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass and Drafting Clearer Contracts: … Read More
I think of my core mission as helping you become an informed consumer of contract language. By “an informed consumer of contract language,” I mean someone who knows how to say clearly and concisely in a contract whatever you want to say. As a practical matter, I suggest that means someone who’s familiar with my book A Manual of Style … Read More
The next piece in my Drafting Clearer Contracts, uh, empire is Drafting Clearer Contracts: On Demand. It’s now live: go here. Currently, it consists of 45 videos and four multiple-choice quizzes. On 1 May 2026 and on the beginning of each subsequent month, I’ll make available a further 25 or so videos and who knows how many quizzes. Once the … Read More
When? I’ve scheduled the first two series of Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass for 2026. One begins on Wednesday, 21 January 2026, at 11:00 a.m. ET; the second begins on Tuesday, 17 March 2026, at noon ET. And I’ve scheduled one Drafting Clearer Contracts presentation, on 8 and 9 April 2026, starting at 11:00 a.m. ET. More of both kinds of … Read More
The next Drafting Clearer Contracts presentation is on 23 and 24 July 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. Eastern Time (US). Go here for more information Why should you consider registering? Because as I explain in this 2024 blog post, you cannot be an informed consumer of contract language without consulting my book A Manual of Style for Contract … Read More
You cannot be an informed consumer (or producer) of contract language without consulting A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. (See this 2024 blog post.) So doesn’t it follow that to be an informed consumer of contract language, all that’s required is that you get yourself of copy of MSCD? Well, no. For one thing, you have to apply yourself. Contracts … Read More
