Indian law schools are partial to contract-drafting competitions. As I noted in this 2011 post, I think such competitions are a good idea.
Recently someone from the boutique Indian law firm TRA told me about the competition his firm was helping to run with the National Law School of India University. He asked me whether I could think of any way I might get involved, so here’s what’s we’re doing: Courtesy of the American Bar Association, those who take part in the competition will be given access to an online copy of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. Submissions will be judged, in part, on the extent to which the students attempted to follow MSCD guidelines.
Now, neither the students nor the judges will be familiar with MSCD, so no one has unrealistic expectations. But I think it’s important to send a signal that quality contract drafting requires an authoritative and comprehensive set of guidelines. Without that, you’re either a copy-and-paste monkey or you’re improvising.
Go here for the website for the competition, and go here for the extemporaneous video I prepared for those taking part in the competition.
