Welcome to the 21st Century. Where practicing law requires us to don the garb of computers and the Internet. And where litigation is as costly as ever. Lawyer bills running $10,000 a month are not unusual in a hotly contested breach of contract lawsuit. With every word, phrase and sentence carrying the potential for winning or losing, the stakes are high. Simple logic, therefore, directs us to cautious and thoughtful drafting.

　　新世紀(jì)的到來，要求我們在法律實踐中應(yīng)該多用電腦和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，不過，訴訟成本還是那么地高，面對日益競爭激烈的違約訴訟，律師每月開出1萬美元的賬單也是常有的事。合同中的每一個字，每一個詞，每一句話，都意味著潛在的輸或贏，換句話說，押在這上面下的賭注也很大，所以，在起草合同時要把握兩條原則：小心謹(jǐn)慎和深思熟慮。

　　Drafting contracts is actually one of the simple pleasures of practicing law. Just 3 years ago at this Convention I presented 50 tips for contract writing. This article updates those tips in the context of our new tools and abilities. Following these tips could result in your writing a contract so clear no one will want to litigate it, saving your client from the trials and tribulations of litigation, truly a good reason to write the contract that stays out of court.

　　然而，起草合同的確又是法律實踐中一件有意思的事兒。大約三年前，也是在這樣一個會議上，我提出了合同起草的50招。本文在那些招數(shù)的基礎(chǔ)上，結(jié)合一些新的工具和技能，推出了下面這個新版本，但愿它們能幫助你起草無可挑剔的合同，讓你的客戶免受訴訟的困擾。

　　These tips apply to writing all kinds of agreements: office leases, real estate contracts, sales agreements, employment contracts, equipment leases, prenuptial agreements. They even apply to stipulations and settlements in litigation, where you want an agreement so clear that it avoids future litigation. Wherever clarity and simplicity are important, these tips will guide you there. The Appendix provides a few sample forms to illustrate these tips.

　　這些招數(shù)適用于各種合同，比如，辦公租賃合同、不動產(chǎn)合同、買賣合同、勞動合同、設(shè)備租賃合同、婚前協(xié)議。同樣，如果你不想讓你在訴訟中所起草的和解條款與協(xié)議再起爭議的話，也可以參考一下這些招數(shù)。另外，通過了解這些招數(shù)，你就會明白，起草合同，清晰、的簡明是多么地重要。本文的附錄提供了一些簡單的法律文書范本，這將有助于你理解這些招數(shù)。

Before You Write the First Word

第一部分：在動筆之前

1、Ask your client to list the deal points. This can be in the form of a list, outline or narration. Doing this will help the client focus on the terms of the agreement.

1、要求你的客戶列出合同交易的要點，也可以說是合同的清單、目錄或概述。這一招首先幫助你的客戶弄清合同的重點所在。

2.、Engage your client in "what if" scenarios. A good contract will anticipate many possible factual situations and express the parties' understanding in case those facts arise. Talking to your client about this will generate many issues you may not otherwise consider.

2、讓你的客戶提供一些假設(shè)可能發(fā)生的情況。好的合同不僅能夠預(yù)見到許多可能發(fā)生的情況，而且還能清楚地描述出發(fā)生這些情況后合同雙方的立場。和客戶聊這些情況將有助于你發(fā)現(xiàn)一些你可能沒有考慮到的問題。

3、Ask your client for a similar contract. Frequently, clients have had similar transactions in the past or they have access to contracts for similar transactions.

3、請求你的客戶提供類似的合同。通常情況下，客戶都保留著過去的交易記錄或者是類似合同。

 

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