Legal Drafting

Learning Outcomes 

By the end of this module, students should be able to: 

LO.1 :  Explain the principles and purposes of legal drafting; 

LO.2 : Understand the differing legal drafting techniques depending on the form of agreement; the party acted for; the outcomes sought to be achieved; 

LO.3 : Apply clear, precise and effective drafting techniques to general and corporate legal documents; 

LO.4 : Draft and revise key provisions using appropriate language and style; 

LO.5 : Demonstrate an understanding of how drafted provisions allocate risk and reflect parties’ intentions. 

Module Content 

The module introduces students to legal drafting as a core practical skill within the practice of a lawyer. It focuses on how legal documents are used to implement, manage and allocate risk in general practice and commercial transactions, with particular emphasis upon drafting for the purposes of corporate transactions. In doing so, the module provides students with firm foundations in regard to the theory and basic requirements for effective legal drafting in any context, focusing on clarity, precision, consistency, structure and plain English principles. Having established a strong foundation in general principles, the module proceeds to a more advanced focus on commercial and corporate legal drafting. It provides students with an understanding of risk allocation between parties in drafting; the techniques to amend clauses to favour one party or another; commenting on the drafting of counterparties; and the importance of reflecting parties’ intentions. In doing so, students will learn the difference between poorly drafted and clearly drafted clauses, and understand common drafting conventions used in corporate transactions. 

Three practical drafting seminars form a central part of the module. In the first seminar, students work through basic legal drafting techniques in standard contracts. In the second seminar, students draft selected clauses from a share purchase agreement. Finally, in the third seminar students are required to draft a complete legal agreement. Students will work in small groups in the seminars and will be required to present their drafted work to their peers, thereby benefitting from strong peer-to-peer learning alongside clear input from the Module Coordinator.