Fifty Hints to Write a Good Contract.docx

Fifty Hints to Write a Good Contract.docx

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FiftyHintstoWriteaGoodContract

美国资深律师经验：

二十一世纪写好合同的五十招

PublishedinTheFloridaBarJournal,Nov.2000

Note:

Thisarticleisforbackgroundpurposesonlyandisnotintendedaslegaladvice.

Welcometothe21stCentury.WherepracticinglawrequiresustodonthegarbofcomputersandtheInternet.Andwherelitigationisascostlyasever.Lawyerbillsrunning$10,000amontharenotunusualinahotlycontestedbreachofcontractlawsuit.Witheveryword,phraseandsentencecarryingthepotentialforwinningorlosing,thestakesarehigh.Simplelogic,therefore,directsustocautiousandthoughtfuldrafting.

Draftingcontractsisactuallyoneofthesimplepleasuresofpracticinglaw.Just3yearsagoatthisConventionIpresented50tipsforcontractwriting.Thisarticleupdatesthosetipsinthecontextofournewtoolsandabilities.Followingthesetipscouldresultinyourwritingacontractsoclearnoonewillwanttolitigateit,savingyourclientfromthetrialsandtribulationsoflitigation,trulyagoodreasontowritethecontractthatstaysoutofcourt.

Thesetipsapplytowritingallkindsofagreements:

officeleases,realestatecontracts,salesagreements,employmentcontracts,equipmentleases,prenuptialagreements.Theyevenapplytostipulationsandsettlementsinlitigation,whereyouwantanagreementsoclearthatitavoidsfuturelitigation.Whereverclarityandsimplicityareimportant,thesetipswillguideyouthere.TheAppendixprovidesafewsampleformstoillustratethesetips.

BeforeYouWritetheFirstWord

1.Askyourclienttolistthedealpoints.Thiscanbeintheformofalist,outlineornarration.Doingthiswillhelptheclientfocusonthetermsoftheagreement.

2.Engageyourclientin“whatif”scenarios.Agoodcontractwillanticipatemanypossiblefactualsituationsandexpresstheparties'understandingincasethosefactsarise.Talkingtoyourclientaboutthiswillgeneratemanyissuesyoumaynototherwiseconsider.

3.Askyourclientforasimilarcontract.Frequently,clientshavehadsimilartransactionsinthepastortheyhaveaccesstocontractsforsimilartransactions.

4.SearchyourofficecomputerortheInternetforasimilarform.Manytimesyoucanfindasimilarformonyourcomputer.Itmaybeoneyoupreparedforanotherclientoroneyounegotiatedwithanotherlawyer.Justremembertofindandreplacetheoldclient'sname.Startingwithanexistingformsavestimeandavoidstheerrorsoftyping.HerearesomeWebsiteswhereyoucanfindforms:

http:

//www.flcourts.org/

http:

//www.flabarrpptl.org/library.html

5.ObtainformsinbooksorCD-ROM.Typicalformsofcontractscanbefoundinformbooks,suchasWest'sLegalForms（anationwideset）andFloridaJurForms,aswellasintreatisesandFloridaBarCLEpublications.Thesecanbeusedasthestartingpointfordraftingthecontractoraschecklistsoftypicalprovisionsandwordingtoincludeinthecontract.ManytreatisesandformbooksnowcomewithformsondiskorCD-ROM.

6.Don'tletyourclientsignaletterofintentwithoutthiswording.Sometimesclientsareanxioustosignsomethingtoshowgoodfaithbeforethecontractisprepared.Aproperlywordedletterofintentisusefulatsuchtimes.Justbesurethattheletterofintentclearlystatesthatitisnotacontract,butthatitismerelyanoutlineofpossibletermsfordiscussionpurposes.SeeAppendixC.

WritingthatFirstWord

7.Startwithasimple,genericcontractform.TheforminAppendixAissuchaform.Itprovidesasolidstartingpointforthestructureofthecontract.Likeahouse,acontractmusthaveagood,solidfoundation.

8.Statethecorrectlegalnamesofthepartiesinthefirstparagraph.Asobviousasthisis,itisoneofthemostcommonproblemsincontracts.Forindividuals,includefullfirstandlastname,andmiddleinitialsifavailable,andotheridentifyinginformation,ifappropriate,suchasJr.,M.D.,etc.Forcorporations,checkwiththeSecretaryofStatewhereincorporated.

如果是公司，为避免弄错，写名称时可以到公司注册地的相应机构去核对一下。

9.Identifythepartiesbynicknames.Givingeachpartyanicknameinthefirstparagraphwillmakethecontracteasiertoread.Forexample,JamesW.Martinwouldbenicknamed"Martin."

10.Becarefulwhenusinglegaltermsfornicknames.Donotuse"Contractor"asanicknameunlessthatpartyislegallyacontractor.Donotuse"Agent"unlessyouintendforthatpartytobeanagent,andifyoudo,thenyoubetterspecifythescopeofauthorityandotheragencyissuestoavoidfuturedisagreements.

11.Includeablankforthedateinthefirstparagraph.Puttingthedateinthefirstparagraphmakesiteasytofindafterthecontractissigned.Italsomakesiteasytodescribethecontractinotherdocumentsinapreciseway,suchasthe"December20,2000,ContractforSaleofRealEstate."

12.Includetoprovidebackground.Recitalsarethe"whereas"clausesthatprecedethebodyofacontract.Theyprovideasimplewaytobringthecontract'sreader（party,judgeorjury）uptospeedonwhatthecontractisabout,whothepartiesare,whytheyaresigningacontract,etc.Thefirstparagraphinthebodyofthecontractcanincorporatetherecitalsbyreferenceandstatethattheyaretrueandcorrect.Thiswillavoidalaterargumentastowhetherornottherecitalsarealegallybindingpartofthecontract.

12.书写引述语。

引述语是指那些放在合同主体前面的"鉴于"条款。

书写此类条款的目的是为了让读者（通常指合同双方，法官，陪审团）很快地了解到合同的主要内容是什么，合同双方是谁，以及他们为什么签订合同，等等。

当然，合同主体的第一段也可以加上引述语并陈述其是真实准确的，如果这样做了，合同双方将来就不会争执：

引述语作为合同的一部分是否具有法律效力？

13.Outlinethecontractbywritingoutandunderliningparagraphheadingsintheirlogicalorder.Theparagraphsshouldflowinlogical,organizedfashion.Itisnotnecessarytowritethemallatonce;youcanwritethemasyouthinkofthem.Trytogrouprelatedconceptsinthesameparagraphsorinadjacentparagraphs.Forexample,writeanemploymentcontract'sinitialparagraphheadingslikethis:

Recitals.

Employment.

Duties.

Term.

Compensation.

14.Completeeachparagraphbywritingthecontracttermsthatapplytothatparagraph.Thisissimple.Youlearnedthisinelementaryschool.Justexplaininwordswhatthepartiesagreetodoornotdoparagraphbyparagraph.

15.Keepapadathandtorememberclausestoadd.Itisnormaltothinkofadditionalclauses,wordingandissueswhilewritingacontract.Jotthesedownonapadasyouwrite;theyareeasilyforgotten.Alsokeepyourclient'soutlineandotherformsinfrontofyouasyouwrite,andcheckoffitemsasyouwritethem.

16.Repeatyourselfonlywhenrepetitionisnecessarytoimproveclarity.Ambiguityiscreatedbysayingthesamethingmorethanonce;itisalmostimpossibletosayittwicewithoutcreatingambiguity.Onlyiftheconceptisadifficultoneshouldyouwriteitinmorethanoneway.Inaddition,ifyouuseanexampletoclarifyadifficultconceptorformula,besurethatallpossiblemeaningsareconsideredandthattheexampleisaccurateandconsistentwiththeconceptasworded.

16.除非是为了更清晰地说明问题，否则不要在合同中重复陈述某个内容。

将一个事实来回地说很容易让人模棱两可。

如果你将一个概念重复地解释，那理解起来就更有困难。

另外，如果你想通过一个例子来阐明一个难以理解的概念或规则时，一定要考虑到其所有的含义、这个例子的准确性以及它和概念的相符性。

WhattoWatchOutforWhenWriting

17.Titleit"Contract."Donotleavethisonetochance.Ifyourclientwantsacontract,callitacontract.Ajudgenowsittingonthefederalbenchonceruledthatadocumententitled"Proposal"wasnotacontracteventhoughsignedbybothparties.Thelessonlearnedis,"Saywhatyoumean."Ifyouintendthedocumenttobealegallybindingcontract,usetheword"Contract"inthetitle.

18.Writeinshortsentences.Shortsentencesareeasiertounderstandthanlongones.

19.Writeinactivetense,ratherthanpassive.Activetensesentencesareshorterandusewordsmoreefficiently,andtheirmeaningismoreapparent.Exampleofactive:

"SellersshallsellthePropertytoBuyer."Exampleofpassive:

"ThePropertyshallbesoldtoBuyerbySeller."

20.Don'tusetheword"biweekly."Ithastwomeanings:

twiceaweekandeveryotherweek.Thesameappliesto"bimonthly."Instead,write"everyotherweek"or"twiceaweek."

21.Don'tsaythingslike"activetermitesandorganisms".Avoidambiguitybywritingeither"activetermitesandactiveorganisms"or"organismsandactivetermites."Whenaddingamodifierlike"active"beforeacompoundofnounslike"termitesandorganisms",besuretoclarifywhetheryouintendthemodifiertoapplytobothnounsorjustthefirstone.Ifyouintendittoapplytoboth,useparallelconstructionandwritethemodifierinfrontofeachnoun.Ifyouintendittoapplytojustonenoun,placethatonenounattheendofthelistandthemodifierdirectlyinfrontofit.

22.Don'tsay"Lessor"and"Lessee."Thesearebadnicknamesforaleasebecausetheyareeasilyreversedormistyped.Use"Landlord"and"Tenant"instead.Thesameappliestolienorandlienee,mortgagorandmortgagee,grantorandgrantee,licensorandlicensee,partyAandpartyB.Thisiswhereyoucanuseyourcreativitytocomeupwithadifferentnicknameforaparty,aslongasyouuseitconsistentlythroughoutthecontract.

23.Watchoutwhenusing"herein."Does"whereverusedherein"meananywhereinthecontractoranywhereintheparagraph?

Clarifythisambiguityifitmatters.

24.Writenumbersasbothwordsandnumerals:

ten（10）.Thiswillreducethechanceforerrors.

25.Whenyouwrite"including"consideradding"butnotlimitedto."Unlessyouintendthelisttobeall-inclusive,youhadbetterclarifyyourintentthatitismerelyanexample.

26.Don'trelyontherulesofgrammar.Therulesofgrammarthatyoulearnedinschoola