Blog

Adams Attempts the Power of Positive Thinking :-)

It’s all Eric Goldman‘s fault. In this comment to a 2010 post in which I lamented the demise of traditional reviews of law books, Eric suggested that if I want to see reviews of books on contract drafting, I have to be willing to do some reviewing myself. That was the thin end of the wedge. Now, I’m sometimes too … Read More

Do You Want to Write a Review of MSCD3?

For purposes of law books, the traditional book review is pretty much dead, as I suggested in this 2010 post. But some books manage to generate discussion online. To encourage that sort of discussion, in early February the ABA will be distributing a limited number of review copies of the third edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. … Read More

MSCD3 Is at the Printer (And Here’s What the Cover Looks Like)

Finally, the third edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting is at the printer. It took long enough: Four years of preparing blog posts that were first-draft versions of much that’s new in the book. Two months solid of writing and collating. Three months of tweaking the manuscript and addressing an array of all sorts of comments from … Read More

Thomson Reuters to Acquire Practical Law Company

[Revised January 9, 2013, to make my point a little clearer and to trim away some invective.] Thomson Reuters has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Practical Law Company, “the London-based provider of practical legal know-how and workflow tools to law firms and corporate law departments.” Go here for the announcement. Apparently, PLC has locked up the … Read More

What to Expect on this Blog in the Coming Months

In recent weeks I haven’t posted much, if anything, on specific issues of contract language, and I won’t be doing so for a while. Here’s why: The third edition of MSCD will be coming out in February. The last thing I feel like doing right now is any research that might suggest last-minute changes. Once the third edition has come out, … Read More

Copenhagen “Drafting Clearer Contracts” Seminar in April 2013!

I’m delighted to announce that hot on the heels of my seminars in Geneva and Hamburg, I’ll be giving a day-long “Drafting Clearer Contracts” seminar in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Thursday, 18 April 2013. My host for this seminar is Maersk Line, the global container shipping company. I’m very pleased to have their support. Go here [link no longer available] for complete details … Read More

Some Thoughts on wireLawyer

[Revised 9:00 p.m. EST, December 20, 2013, to make it less dismissive. Sorry about that.] Once again I was drawn to Bob Ambrogi’s LawSites, this time for this post about wireLawyer. Here are the first two paragraphs of Bob’s post: Back in October, I reported the beta launch of wireLawyer.com, which described itself as “the first dedicated digital network created by lawyers for … Read More

Save the Date: U.S. “Drafting Clearer Contracts” Seminars in 2013

In addition to roaming the globe in 2013, I’ll be doing a full complement of U.S. “Drafting Clearer Contracts” seminars for West LegalEdcenter: March 27, 2013, Dallas, TX April 4, 2013, Atlanta, GA May 9, 2013, Chicago, IL May 22, 2013, Denver, CO June 13, 2012, Morristown, NJ September 12, 2013, Boston, MA October 9, 2013, Minneapolis, MN October 31, … Read More

"If … Then"?

Today I received the following inquiry from Akiva Schonfeld, a lawyer at Technology Practice Group LLC: I recently graduated from law school and accepted a position at a law firm that specializes in drafting and negotiating contracts for technology transactions. My boss recommended that I read your book, A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. I have found your book … Read More

Geneva and Hamburg “Drafting Clearer Contracts” Seminars in April 2013

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be giving day-long “Drafting Clearer Contracts” seminars in Geneva, Switzerland, on 8, 10, and 11 April 2013 (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday) and in Hamburg on 15 and 16 April 2013 (Monday and Tuesday). These seminars will follow my seminars in Asia and Australia. It will be an adventurous start to 2013! My host for the … Read More