Ken Adams is the author of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting.
It’s the only authoritative guide to the building blocks of contract language, and it’s in widespread use internationally. In this review of the fourth edition, the Law Society Gazette says it’s “extraordinary.” The first edition was published by the American Bar Association in 2004; the fifth edition was published in February 2023. Here’s the back-cover text of the fifth edition:
With A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, Kenneth A. Adams has created a uniquely in-depth survey of the building blocks of contract language. First published in 2004, it offers those who draft, review, negotiate, or interpret contracts an alternative to the dysfunction of traditional contract language and the inertia and flawed conventional wisdom that perpetuate it. This manual has become a vital resource throughout the legal profession, in the United States and internationally.
This is the fifth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. It contains more than 70 pages of new materials addressing many topics, making it even more authoritative and essential. The rest of the text reflects many adjustments.
This manual’s focus remains how to express contract terms in prose that is free of the archaisms, redundancies, ambiguities, and other problems that afflict traditional contract language. With exceptional analysis and an unmatched level of practical detail, Ken highlights common sources of confusion and recommends clearer and more concise alternatives. This manual is organized to facilitate easy reference, and it illustrates its analysis with numerous examples. Consult it to save time in drafting and negotiation and to reduce the risk of dispute.
You can buy print and ebook versions of the fifth edition from this page of the ABA Web Store. If you have any questions about buying the book from the ABA, please call the ABA at (800) 285-2221 (weekdays between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm Eastern Time (US)).
It’s also available on Amazon (affiliate link) and other stores, but probably at the ABA price or close to it, if the fourth edition is any guide.
The ABA charges US$139.95 for the print version and the ebook. If you’re a member of the ABA, you’re entitled to a discount; if you’re a member of the Business Law Section of the ABA, you’re entitled to a bigger discount. If you have Ken Adams give your organization a Drafting Clearer Contracts presentation or a series of his online course Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass, you’d be entitled to a steep discount on copies of the print version.
The ABA charges a significant shipping fee if you want the print copy sent outside the United States. The shipping fee is based on what the ABA is charged. In the near term, there’s probably little that can be done about that.
[Additional information about the ebook coming soon!]
TESTIMONIALS
“The so-called ‘art’ of contract drafting had few standards upon which we could rely, at least until MSCD. Ken Adams has filled the void in legal standards for contracting, and none too soon.”
– Michael Fleming
“Ken’s MSCD should be a mandatory part of the professional training of commercial lawyers. If you want to draft better for your clients, read it.”
– Neil Brown
“I promote Ken’s MSCD on social media much more than I should, mostly because my life as a contract practitioner would be easier if opposing parties routinely used it.”
– François Coppens
Extracts, Reviews
Here from the fifth edition are the table of contents, the foreword to the fourth edition (included in the fifth edition), the preface, the introduction, and the index to the fourth edition. And here’s an extract of the back-cover text of the fourth edition:
With A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, Kenneth A. Adams has created a uniquely in-depth survey of the building blocks of contract language. First published in 2004, it offers those who draft, review, negotiate, or interpret contracts an alternative to the dysfunction of traditional contract language and the inertia and flawed conventional wisdom that perpetuate it. This manual has become a vital resource throughout the legal profession, in the United States and internationally.
This is the fifth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. It contains more than 70 pages of new materials addressing many topics, making it even more authoritative and essential. The rest of the text reflects many adjustments.
This manual’s focus remains how to express contract terms in prose that is free of the archaisms, redundancies, ambiguities, and other problems that afflict traditional contract language. With exceptional analysis and an unmatched level of practical detail, Ken highlights common sources of confusion and recommends clearer and more concise alternatives. This manual is organized to facilitate easy reference, and it illustrates its analysis with numerous examples. Consult it to save time in drafting and negotiation and to reduce the risk of dispute.
See reviews of the fourth edition by the Law Society Gazette, Casey Flaherty, John Gillies, Jason Steed, and Charles Drayson. Go here for this August 2020 Business Law Today account of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting after 16 years. And see reviews of the third edition by Mark Anderson, Brian Rogers, Professor Daniel D. Barnhizer, Dean Irma S. Russell, Daniel Schwartz, Luis Villa, and Matthias M. Edrich.
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