My online course Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass has been on a brief hiatus while I waited to learn when the fifth edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting would be available. As I announced in this blog post, MSCD5 will be available in mid-April 2023, so that has allowed me to schedule the first four 2023 public series of Masterclass:
- Masterclass (29) starts on Thursday, 9 March 2023, at 11:00 a.m. ET
- Masterclass (30) starts on Tuesday, 4 April 2023, at noon ET
- Masterclass (31) starts on Wednesday, 3 May 2023, at 11:00 a.m. ET
- Masterclass (32) starts on Thursday, 8 June 2023, at noon ET
Masterclass is built around eight live hour-long sessions held once a week and supplemented by reading and quizzes. The first two series start before MSCD5 is available, so I’ll put PDFs of the relevant chapters of MSCD5 in the course curriculum. (Participants in those series will get to see MSCD5 before anyone else. Woohoo!) As usual, every participant is entitled to 30% off the price of MSCD5.
I won’t make the course curriculum available until 9 February 2023, as I have to update the materials to reflect what’s in the fifth edition. I’ll also take the opportunity to freshen up the PowerPoint presentations.
If you’re a lawyer at a law firm with up to three lawyers, you’re a contract manager, you’re in government, you’re with a not-for-profit, or (now for the first time) you’re a full-time student, you can use a specified discount code for US$150 off.
As always, Masterclass is intended for anyone who works with contracts in English, wherever in the world they’re located.
Contracts aren’t easy. And Masterclass isn’t easy, whether you’re participating or facilitating. I like to think it’s worthwhile, but that’s for others to decide. I’ve put some testimonials here, but I periodically hear from other participants. Here’s what Mark Stansbury, of the law firm Stansbury Weaver, told me last week:
Better late than never with feedback.
Our law student, Eleni, said she found the class valuable but feels she may have missed a lot given her lack of experience. But I have noticed her implementing a lot of your ideas in the work she does for us, so clearly a good amount stuck. I wish I had started my career with this kind of training.
One of our associates said he enjoyed the class and wishes he had spent more time on the prep and homework. (In his defense, we were pretty busy at the time.) He thinks it would be valuable for us to put all new hires through your training. I agree. He also said that the “has a duty” test is seared into his brain like a permanent cattle brand.
Another associate, Justin, said he wished they had a course like this in law school. I imagine you hear that a lot. Of the legal-writing training I received in law school, 100% was oriented toward litigation.
So there you have it.
For my part, as we bring on new associates I intend to have them take your course—as long as you’re still offering it—as part of our standard onboarding and orientation.
