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Drafting International Commercial Agreements in English Training Course
The complete guide to drafting and negotiating clear and concise commercial agreements in English. Presented by expert linguists with extensive experience in commercial law.
Details
Course overview
Most international agreements are drafted in the English language irrespective of the nationality of contracting parties. Language errors in the text and unclear and inconcise phrasing cause confusion and can ultimately lead to a dispute if they go unnoticed. Gain a comprehensive understanding of the common pitfalls, key areas of risk and up-to-date drafting techniques in English to ensure you protect your organisation against unnecessary risk.
What are the objectives of this programme?
- Learn how to recognise drafting inaccuracies to effectively re-draft poorly written clauses
- Draft effective standard clauses that can be used across the organisation to manage exposure to legal risk
- Understand the principles of using plain English within your contract to reduce uncertainty
- Focus on agreement structure, linguistic clarity and accuracy to draft with confidence
- Discover how to avoid over complex sentences and structures to limit the risk of dispute
- Develop more effective legal writing skills that can be used in all your business communications
Who should attend?
- Lawyers working in industry and government
- Lawyers in banks and financial institutions
- Lawyers in private practice
- Lawyers and corporate executives involved in the drafting of contracts in English
Programme
PRACTICIAL EXERCISE: Guidelines to clear writing/drafting contracts in clear English
- How to structure clauses
- Using the language of obligation and discretion accurately: shall, may and must
- Avoiding old-fashioned language
- Effective use of provisos and exceptions (eg ‘provided that’ and ‘notwithstanding’)
Structure and terminology of contracts
- Applying the key elements, terms, phrases and structures
- Preamble
- Recitals
- Performance related clauses
- Force majeure
- Liquidated damages
- Governing law, etc
- Boilerplate or standard clauses
- Amendment
- Assignment
- Severability, etc
PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Drafting standard clauses in English
During this practical session, participants will apply the principles above to the redrafting of a range of clauses from international commercial agreements. Both individual and group work exercises will be undertaken with results reviewed in a group forum and constructive feedback and guidance supplied by the expert trainer.
PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Legal vocabulary
During this session, participants will work through exercises both individually and in groups to develop their knowledge of legal vocabulary.
Email and letter writing with precision and clarity
- Different types of written communication and their appropriate use
- Examples of standard opening and closing
- Differences between semi-formal and informal register
- Structuring a letter of advice
- Differences between British and American English
PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Drafting emails with precision and clarity
The participants will apply the principles above by redrafting a badly written piece of legal correspondence.
PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Proof reading
Participants will carry out exercises in which they have to identify and correct a series of errors in legal correspondence and memoranda including:
- Grammar
- Punctuation
- Spelling
PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Redrafting
Following a review of the principles of clear drafting taught during day one, the participants will develop these skills further by redrafting more complex clauses whilst making necessary amendments to protect the interests of one of the parties.
Legal vocabulary
There will be a series of exercises to develop the knowledge of the participants of legal vocabulary including the differences between British and American English.
Delegate contributions
All participants are invited to bring with them examples of their own work/contracts, edited to ensure confidentiality, for review by the expert trainer. Constructive feedback will be given in each case. (NB: Because of time constraints, it will not be possible to review entire agreements or extensive sections. Participants are requested to limit their contributions to selected clauses or short sections.)
PRACTICAL EXERCISE: Advanced contract drafting
Participants will be working in small teams to draft a number of clauses from scratch based on written instructions. The clauses will be taken from the following types of agreements:
- Licence agreement
- Distribution agreement
- Share purchase agreement
- Lease agreement
- Employment agreement
Legal advice
Participants will also write letters of advice in relation to some of the clauses that they have redrafted during day one and day two.
The letters will seek to:
- Summarise the clause
- Point out to what extent the clause as currently drafted is not in the interests of their client
- Explain how the clause should be amended
Grammar
Exercises on the use of prepositions and countable nouns in a legal context.
Presenter
Alan Simmons (More...)
Alan Simmons LLB (Hons) in Law with French LLM, RSA CETEFLA. Alan is a highly experienced trainer of legal English who has been working with international lawyers across the globe for over 20 years to enhance their skills at drafting concise and watertight clauses in the English language. He qualified as a solicitor in England and has passed the New York Bar with a view to becoming a US qualified lawyer. He studied law in the UK, Strasbourg and the European University in Florence and then went on to train as a solicitor in an international law firm and practised in commercial law in law firms in London. He has used this experience to successfully train legal staff from junior counsel to judges in all elements of international commercial law across the world. Alan is a dynamic trainer and applies a highly interactive style to ensure complete understanding and an enjoyable learning experience.
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NEW higher discounts for booking multiple places - bring your colleagues to make your training budget go further:
- 30% off the 2nd delegate
- 40% off the 3rd delegate
- 50% off the 4th delegate
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8-10 Aug 2022 Face-to-face, Rembrandt Hotel London 09:00-17:00 UK (London) |
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8-10 Aug 2022 Face-to-face Rembrandt Hotel London 09:00-17:00 UK (London) |
GBP 1,399 1,099 EUR 1,959 1,539 USD 2,182 1,714 Until 4 Jul* |
Enrol now
to attend Face-to-face Rembrandt Hotel London Please note: this event is being organised by our training partner Falconbury; clicking Enrol will take you to falconbury.co.uk to complete your purchase. |
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15-17 Nov 2022 Live webinar 09:30-17:00 UK (London) |
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15-17 Nov 2022 Live webinar 09:30-17:00 UK (London) |
GBP 1,099 799 EUR 1,539 1,119 USD 1,714 1,246 Until 11 Oct* |
Enrol now
to attend Live webinar Please note: this event is being organised by our training partner Falconbury; clicking Enrol will take you to falconbury.co.uk to complete your purchase. |
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Learn more about our face-to-face and webinar training formats.
* Note the early booking discount cannot be combined with any other offers or promotional code. As such, discounts for the 2nd/3rd/4th attendees are based on the full price of the course. Please contact us for pricing if you wish to send more than 4 delegates.