Course Description:
How does one discover a client’s objectives and then translate them into legal text (statutes, contracts, bylaws, etc.) that has the best chance of accomplishing what the client wants? This skills course considers many different forms of legal drafting, focusing primarily on legal work intended for planning and governing purposes such as contracts, wills, trusts, bylaws, and statutes. The skills to be developed will be generic to and useful for all forms of drafting, though we will not consider drafting in the litigation context. Class sessions will center on written work that students have prepared in advance and also on in-class exercises. This will require preparation of written work at home and we will review, evaluate, and edit that work during class. Attendance, participation, and written work will be required for each class. Evaluation will be through drafting projects and classroom preparation and participation.