Legal Drafting Books Free Download [PORTABLE]
Tisa Timchak
I am a foreign associate in a big law firm in the US. I mostly do transactional work with Latam countries, so I do a lot of work reviewing and drafting documents in Spanish. My level of English is, of course, competent for some tasks (writing emails, talking with clients, etc.) but when I need to draft documents in English or mark up clauses in a legal document I really struggle with the language.
Below are some of the library resources that can provide general guidance on legal writing. The Texas State Law Library has many other resources in addition to the highlights we present below. Please call us at (512) 463-1722 if you have any questions about these materials.
This textbook is about document drafting and is a useful reference for practitioners. The book contains the following:
- Discussion of legal issues that are crucial to drafters.
- Guidance for creating document-organization schemes.
- Suggestions for clear and precise phrasing.
- Tips regarding grammar, punctuation, and style.
- Document-specific guidance and exercises.
- Citations to statutes, case law, and other sources.
The first step in drafting any legal or law-related document is to fully understand its context, which includes studying the language used by the courts, attorneys, and/or legal scholars regarding the issue. For those new to legal drafting, or unfamiliar with an area of the law, a legal dictionary can be invaluable. Some of the most popular legal dictionaries are:
Legal writing can be challenging for both novice and experienced writers. Fortunately, scholars produce legal writing guides to help new legal writers know where to begin and help advanced legal writers polish their work. The Law Library of Congress has several of these manuals in its collection, including:
We hope you found this guide helpful. Do you have a favorite resource related to legal drafting? Please let us know in the comments section. If you have any questions, please contact the Law Library of Congress.
Thank you guys so much for all of the resources that you provide. Lately I have had a hard time finding a good attorney for my legal issues or not able to afford an attorney. So I decided to do it myself. With the resources that you provide, I feel a lot better about my decision to do it myself. Thanks again and again!
Thomson Reuters conducted a nationwide study to determine whether legal drafting technology reduces the risk of errors and cuts down on review time, as compared to manual drafting. The phone survey included 56 attorneys from around the country from different sized firms whose practices included corporate, real estate, contracts, litigation, and others. All study participants were active users of legal drafting software for at least two months.
The course will cover structuring and drafting of international sales and service transaction contracts for commercial enterprises and government institutions. Our work will include analysis of contracts from major industry sectors such as manufacturing, technology, commodities supply, energy, telecommunications, transport and logistics, media, entertainment, hospitality and tourism. Our course will cover basic legal rules and issues for international contracts, and essential tools used by parties to such transactions, including INCOTERMS and Letters of Credit. We will focus on composing documents that efficiently accomplish clients' objectives, provide clarity for the parties and subsequent users, manage and mitigate risks, avoid disputes and provide guidance for regulators, courts and arbitrators. Instruction will include short hands-on drafting and editing assignments and in-class exercises to illustrate good drafting techniques and lawyers' use of use of available model contracts and other resources. Grading will be based on regular drafting and revision assignments, class participation and an open-book take-home final exam (subject to administrative approvals).
The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.
In its 20th anniversary edition, Behind and Beyond Boilerplate: Drafting Commercial Agreements, Fourth Edition determines a practical approach by providing sample boilerplate clauses and explains their meaning with a legal framework.
It demonstrates the underlying historical common law and equitable principles that gave rise to the use of boilerplate clauses and analyzes the judicial treatment of those clauses. The publication also addresses practical issues that may rise with the use of boilerplate clauses and makes recommendations on drafting them.
This textbook is designed for an experiential law school course. It focuses on transactional lawyering skills in the context of a mock deal involving the purchase and sale of the assets of a small business. It takes a practical, simplified approach to teaching contract drafting skills. The textbook walks chronologically through the stages of a deal and each part of a purchase and sale agreement. It introduces students to basic risk allocation and negotiation principles. It facilitates student learning by distilling complex material into short, straightforward explanations, providing tables that summarize contract drafting principles, and actively engaging students with skill development exercises for each chapter.
There are many famous books about how to play the violin. The titles of two have always intrigued me: The Art of Violin Playing by Carl Flesch and the Science of Violin Playing by Rafael Bronstein (who taught my teacher). These two books highlight the dichotomy whether playing the violin (and music generally) is an art or a science.
Because I come from a musical background, I view law as both art and science. Unlike with music, the art of law is neglected. This article, discussing legal drafting, is the first in a series discussing the art of law.
There are thousands of legal form books covering different legal areas and jurisdictions. There also are online legal form sites. Sometimes attorneys start with a document from previous transaction. Most attorneys and law firms have their own favorite forms. Plus, many legal documents are publicly available on sites, such as EDGAR or PACER.
Some documents, particularly those that consumers purchase online, come with merge lists that enable scientific customization of the document without reading it. But the attorney or paralegal should read the entire document during this stage to begin the artful crafting of a custom contract.
5. Error Checking (aka Proofreading). As the artful stage of drafting draws to a close, science once again takes front stage. Through attorney and staff review and computer review, the attorney should make sure that spelling and grammar are correct. The attorney also should confirm that any language specific to the original form has been obliterated. It is embarrassing when a contract for purchase of real estate in North Carolina references Massachusetts law!
With technology, many people view legal drafting as a science. Individuals may rely upon software to write their wills or create basic business documents. Many professionals, including attorneys, rely upon software to provide the most recent tax, bankruptcy, or court forms and to aid in completing those forms.
Forms and software tools may even provide attorneys with a jump start on the scientific aspects of legal drafting and enable attorneys to move to the art of legal drafting. Software may offer thesaurus and style features, which allows the attorney to improve word and style choices, and some software boasts the ability to help the attorney select sections for custom contract preparation.
DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
Forms are often the backbone of successful legal document drafting. They are model instruments with suggested terminology and other essential details needed in formal legal documents. Generally forms are used as a starting place and then tailored to meet specific needs. Laws and court rules are constantly changing so when using a form it is necessary to read it carefully and revise the form to fit the current laws of the jurisdiction where it is to be used.
The Law Library has many different types of form books. Form books include either substantive or practice forms. The main distinction being that practice forms provide the language for documents filed with a court during litigation. Substantive forms include those such as contracts or wills. Federal form books can also be found in the library. These forms are specifically geared toward conducting matters in federal court. Also there are subject form books devoted to a particular topic and state form books designed for a specific state. A New Jersey listing of form books is included in this guide.
The library online catalog is a good resource to help locate forms. There are many different ways to use the catalog to find form books. A SUBJECT search of "forms" results in nearly 200 subject matches. Scanning these you might locate the particular type of form book you are interested in. A WORD search of the topic you are looking for and the word "forms" is another way to use the online catalog to locate forms. For example, a WORD search in the catalog for "bankruptcy forms" results in about 25 books that have both the word "bankruptcy" and "forms."
Some state codes and rule books will include both substantive and practice forms. Consult the general index of the state code or rules under the term forms. For example, the New Jersey Statutes Annotated includes forms such as the one found at N.J.S.A. 3B:3-4, which is a form for making a will self-proved at the time of execution. The New Jersey court rule book also has various practice forms in the appendices such as interrogatory forms and a form for notice of appeal to appellate division; see Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey, by Sylvia B. Pressler. Gann Law Books, Newark, NJ.
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