How to Contract

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Check out Laura's invitation to her IP Essentials virtual class coming on Thursday, September 12.

Do you need another reason to attend ContractsCon in person besides the amazing training and speakers on advanced contract topics, the connections and friends you'll make, and all the fun? Well, here's another reason. We have secured a fantastic hotel block for you! Our official hotel for ContractsCon 2025 is the Embassy Suites by Hilton Las Vegas. Here's why you'll want to make The Embassy Suites by Hilton Las Vegas your home base during ContractsCon: - Luxurious Two-Room Suites at $209/night - Enjoy your two-room suite with internet included for just $209/night plus tax with no resort fees! These rooms on those nights are going for $468 to $543 per night as of August 25, 2024. You can stay up to three days before and after at the same rate (subject to availability). Rooms must be booked by December 20, 2024 to get that rate. On December 21, the rooms go to market rate. - Convenient Shuttle to and from ContractsCon - We are providing a free morning and evening shuttle from the Embassy Suites to and from the event space on UNLV campus so you can sit back and relax. - Delicious Complimentary Breakfast and Evening Social Hour - Start your day with a full buffet and made-to-order breakfast, all included. Not going out? Enjoy the hotel's complimentary reception with drinks and snacks from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. Plus there's no casino onsite so you can keep your spending money to buy fuzzy dice, trick card decks, and too much food and drink. Head over to the ContractsCon website to get your ticket and book your room before our block is sold out. #ContractsCon2025 #HowToContract #contracts

It's tough when you first start working with contracts. In this How I Contract interview from earlier this year, Brooke Achua shared the benefit of hindsight and how she dealt with the challenges of those days. Question: What was your biggest challenge when you started working with contracts? If you could go back in time but keep all the knowledge and experience you have now, how would you deal with it? Brooke's Answer: My biggest challenge when I started working with contracts later became my unique advantage, which is that I came from a litigation background, specifically business litigation and consumer protection litigation. This meant that I initially approached contracts with a more risk-averse lens, having seen all the ways that contracts (whether B2B or B2C), when left to a court to interpret, can lead to disastrous, expensive results. I unnecessarily over-scrutinized many drafting choices in an attempt to neutralize every potential risk. I wanted my contract language to be ironclad, which is, of course, not possible. My approach was very much, “The sky is falling.” The reality, as I later learned with more contract drafting experience, is that the myriad of perceived risks must be tethered to the likelihood of materialization and aligned with the company’s unique risk tolerance. Litigators get heat from transactional attorneys when we enter the contract drafting and negotiation space (and rightfully so!) because it can be frustrating to see company operations, progress, and growth needlessly hampered due to improbable risks. My approach these days is less “chicken little” and more “wise hen.” I’m more agile, think strategically, and prioritize understanding the business objectives. I still rely on my litigation background for those instances when a more risk-averse perspective is justified. To read the full interview, head over to the How to Contract blog: https://lnkd.in/g_ySPCuN #HowIContract #contracts

If you want to learn more about Laura Frederick's career journey, make sure to tune in to Nate Crespo's podcast called Lawyers in the Making. Nick and Laura walked through her path on the decision to attend law school (realizing in college that she was smart enough), her law school and Fulbright scholar experience, and the career steps that took her to where she is today. Thanks to Nick for featuring her on the episode. You are a master interviewer! #HowToContract #contracts #lawyers

We've had a bunch of new jobs posted on the How to Contract Job Exchange group on LinkedIn. We've got 1,400 members in this group. Make sure to join if you want to share a contract-focused role or if you are looking for that next position. There are lawyers and other professional positions ranging from entry-level contract managers to senior in-house counsel. You also can create a post about yourself and the kind of position you are looking for. Here's the group: https://lnkd.in/gGwtN5yU

One of the benefits of working on contracts for a while is having a lot of disasters to learn from. Jonathan Perkel, General Counsel @ Esusu, shared one of his war stories: ___________________ HTC: Do you have any contract disaster stories from your career or someone else's career that you've learned from? What did you learn? Jonathan: While representing a group of young founders securing investment from a renowned VC firm, I uncovered a significant risk in the proposed governing documents: the potential for founders to relinquish control in the event of one instance of missed financial targets. Despite my repeated revisions to address this issue, the drafts were returned unchanged without explanation, leaving me frustrated. Under mounting pressure to assert myself, I made the rookie error of sending an emotionally charged email to the other side, which ultimately backfired. This experience taught me a valuable lesson in maintaining emotional balance as an advocate. Passion is important, but effective advocacy requires emotional intelligence and a degree of detachment from the negotiation process. While it is essential to ensure the client comprehends your concern, once they do, you must follow their lead on how vigorously to contest the issue and when to concede. ___________________________ Check out Jonathan's full How I Contract interview here: https://lnkd.in/gWnzE6xa #HowIContract #ContractLessons #WeHaveAllBeenThere #contracts

For the first time ever, How to Contract is offering an All-Course Annual Pass. This pass includes 24+ hours of training courses included in these eight courses plus any new Essentials and Mastery courses during the next 12 months. The pass includes access to: - How to Draft and Counsel Your Team on AI Contracts (6 hours) - Boilerplate Essentials (2 hours) - Indemnification Essentials (2 hours) - Indemnification Mastery (4 hours) - Intellectual Property Essentials (2 hours) - Limitation of Liability Essentials (2 hours) - NDA Essentials (2 hours), and - NDA Mastery.(4 hours) You will also have access to: - Laura's five core contract playbooks, which cover boilerplate, indemnification, intellectual property, limitation of liability, and NDAs. - Option to register and attend any live virtual Essentials or Mastery courses at no additional cost - All 380+ of Laura Frederick's contract tips and cartoons in your online How to Contract Library. If you want to provide your 3+ person team with access, each person is only $895. But don't wait too long. This is our launch price and won't be around for long. Here's the link to sign up: https://lnkd.in/gYVh64G3 #ContractTraining #HowToContract

When you're new to contracts, you feel overwhelmed. You don't know where to start and what to focus on first. You need a guide to point you in the right direction. In this contract cheatsheet, you'll find guidance on 11 topics: - Limiting Your Liability - Resolving Disputes - Forming a Contract - Terminating Contracts - Buying Services - Hitting the Numbers - Keeping Secrets - Resolving Disputes - Going International - Dealing with Disasters - Using Data As one of ContractsCon 2023's attendees has pointed out: "I attended ContractsCon 2023 conference virtually and quickly realized the enormous benefit received. The content delivered at the conference is precisely what I can use to greatly assist me in my day-to-day functions." Our VIP Membership includes access to all the recordings from ContractsCon 2021, 2022, and 2023. You want to learn practical approaches that will help you get better at commercial contracts. Our VIP membership is the place to do that. Head over to the How to Contract website to sign up and start accelerating your skills. #contracts #HowtoContract #lawyers