Contract Drafting Guide 2023
(for Non-Lawyers)
Learn how to draft a Contract as a Contracts Professional.
But only Lawyers draft contracts, you might say. Not true! Every time you save a precedent or template as a new document and use that for a new Project, you are drafting a contract. You may get a Lawyer involved at some stages, but often the responsibility for obtaining a completed contract rests with you.
Ask yourself this...
Other than spending time performing this role, where can I learn how to draft and work with contracts better?
What is Contract Drafting?
Contract Drafting is the process of creating a legally binding written Contract (or other legal document) between the parties to a transaction. By drafting, negotiating, and executing a Contract, the parties deliberately place formalities around their agreement to protect each party better and establish their rights and obligations as well as the terms and conditions of their agreement. Contract Drafting can be carried out by Contracts Lawyers or experienced Contracts Professionals who have a precedent or template to work from.
See our post on What is Contract Drafting.
Who is allowed to draft a contract?
Contracts Lawyers are trained to draft contracts that comply with the law in their jurisdiction and reflect the terms of the transaction for which the contract is required.
However, there is no law that says only Contracts Lawyers can draft contracts.
Any two or more people can form a contract, and hundreds and thousands of people around the world each day are required to draft, read, understand, amend, negotiate and manage contracts without the help of a Contracts Lawyer.
Contracts Professionals
Contracts Professionals work with contracts every day, without the benefit of legal and contractual training.
Because their Legal Division is often overworked, or because they may not have a Legal Division in their organisation, many Contracts Professionals have to plan, prepare, and draft contracts all by themselves.
Closing the gap
There is a huge "gap" in the industry between Contracts Lawyers and Contracts Professional, and much of that gap stems from the lack of practical training in contracts made available to Contracts Professionals.
Blaze Professional Learning is here to change that.
Step 1: Identify the Need
Why is the Contract being drafted? What is the Project about?
Step 2: determine the delivery method
How should the Contract be structured? What is the best form of Contract for the Project Delivery Method?
step 3: outline the contract
List the main headings and subheadings of the Contract.
step 4: insert all the clauses
Make sure you insert boilerplate clauses, standard contractual clauses for that Project and Project Delivery Method, and deal-specific clauses (eg limitation of liability).
step 5: add project-specific details and party details
Finalise the Contract by adding all the Project-specific details and details of the parties.
Learn how To Draft a Contract now!
Specific clauses to consider
Here are some posts on specific clauses you will need to consider while drafting a Contract: