Legal Writing Course

60 Academic Hours

Writing Contracts in English provides lawyers with interactive sessions on the practical skills required to draft and interpret modern-day legal documents in English.

Benefits

A Writing Contracts in English course will provide you with:

— More confidence in your ability to interpret and explain contract clauses

— Broader vocabulary for discussing contract terms

— Ability to edit and correct your legal documents more effectively

 

Who should attend

Writing Contracts in English is ideal for lawyers working in English as a second language who need to draft, explain or interpret contract clauses written in English but under their domestic jurisdiction.

 

Course content

The course content for Writing Contracts in English will be determined by your level and requirements.  However, core subject areas for each Writing Contracts in English course will include:

— The incorporation of “best practice” into your legal drafting

— Guidelines for modern style, structure and use of legal English in the drafting of contracts

— Adapting these guidelines to other legal documents

— How to avoid typical mistakes and bad habits in legal writing

— Implications for drafting under Common vs. Civil jurisdictions

 

Suitable tailored and published materials will be used throughout your course, with recommendations on self-study material and extra reading made at the beginning and throughout the duration of your course.

                

Possible Course Outline

 

Introduction

Have clear objectives

Know the reader

Use content to accomplish objectives

Check organization and reorganize

 

Write clear openings for new information

Use explicit guideposts for readers

Use strategies to have the impact you want

Quote and cite correctly

Use key words, definitions, explanations, examples

 

Write using clear, simple words, Write clear, simple sentences

Write clear, simple paragraphs, Write concisely

Use an attractive, easy-to-follow format

 

Proofread for correctness

Proofreading principles

Proofreading technique

 

Omissions, additions, typos

Number accuracy

Transposition errors

Abbreviations

 

Word division

Number expression

Capitalization, Commas

Other punctuation, Special punctuation

 

Spelling

Confusing words

Subject/verb agreement

Pronoun agreement

Using defined terms consistently

Citations

Conclusion