Contract drafting

⚡tl;dr use correct words (shall, may, etc) be consistent and precise both formally and content wise book a free call with us what to be careful about when drafting? use correct words when drafting contracts, using the correct word to describe your intent is key to ensure that the contract would be (if needed) interpreted in line with the intent upon drafting while there can be some exceptions, it is generally best to always use the same words to express a given concept best practices consistent wording is used to define "obligations", "rights", "representations and warranties", etc , in accordance with the below list category lexr standard example performance of an obligation hereby + present form lexr hereby grants a license to obligation shall + infinitive lexr shall pay chf 100 to abc on 01 01 2025 prohibition (i e , obligation of omission) shall not + infinitive lexr shall not disclose confidential information obligation imposed on a third party under the control of a party shall cause to + obligation the shareholders shall cause the company to deliver a certificate of incorporation to abc duty to cooperate has the duty to + duty lexr has the duty to provide abc with the following information policy (statement of fact) simple present the agreement terminates two years from the signing date discretions (i e , an option is given to a party) may + infinitive lexr may increase the fees representations of current state represents and/or warrants + content lexr represents that it is duly incorporated lexr represents and warrants that the use of the services does not violate third party ip representations of future state covenants + content buyer covenants that it will maintain a minimum of 30 full time employees until 2027 intentions (i e , used in the preamble) wish/intend + content in order to increase its market share, lexr wishes to acquire abc abc intends to enter into a deal with lexr pertaining to its purchase keep in mind that the party to which an obligation is imposed must be part of the agreement, meaning that they have to agree to it (usually by signing it) the purpose of the preamble is to give the context to future readers, more generally, to the judges who will read the agreement if a dispute arises drafting it carefully means that the contract is more likely to be interepreted in accordance with what the parties intended be consistent & precise consistency and precision are key when drafting a contract this means use cross reference to make sure that your internal references are correct (e g , "section 8 is reserved") beware of typos consistently use defined terms defined terms are usually identified by using a capital letter (e g , the warranty) this ensures that a concept is defined, e g , in art 1, and will be used consistently in the whole contract it basically works as a "code variable" and helps have a uniform contract interpretation best practices cross references once you're done drafting, use "ctrl a + f9" to update all cross references after that, use "ctrl f + error" to look for any reference that didn't update defined terms always double check your defined terms if one defined term is not used after it has been defined, there's no need to define it how do i get this done? we can support you in drafting your contracts check out our products and book a free call with us